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Mon, 02 Mar 2015 17:32:48 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.1.1DuckTales: The History of Scrooge McDuckhttp://comicartcommunity.com/2015/03/ducktales-history-scrooge-mcduck/
http://comicartcommunity.com/2015/03/ducktales-history-scrooge-mcduck/#commentsMon, 02 Mar 2015 17:32:48 +0000http://comicartcommunity.com/?p=11315While Donald Duck's nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie were introduced in 1937, the idea of Donald's family was an area largely left unexplored. In what was intended a one-off story in 1947, another member of the Duck clan would be introduced in one Scrooge McDuck.

Announced last week, Disney will be rebooting its high profile animated series DuckTales in 2017 for its station Disney XD. Detailing the adventures of wealthy adventurer Scrooge McDuck and his grandnephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie as they span the globe (and beyond) looking for treasure, the series was hugely popular for its Disney Afternoon line-up in the late-1980s/early-1990s (so far as getting its own feature film, DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp, and spin-off in Darkwing Duck). However, what many may not know, is that the series’ origins derives from comic books beginning in the Golden Age. Carl Barks, a rancher, cowboy, and drifter turned artist (via correspondence courses) became an in-between animator at Disney in 1935 until health problems caused him to quit in 1942. That same year, he migrated to comic book artist when he helped produce a Donald Duck story for Dell’s Four Color Comics called “Donald Duck Finds Pirate Gold.” The job led to Barks becoming the ongoing artist for Donald’s comic stories including one such fateful tale entitled “Christmas on Bear Mountain” five years later.

DuckTales by Montygog

While Donald Duck’s nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie were introduced in 1937, the idea of Donald’s family was an area largely left unexplored. In what was intended a one-off story in 1947, another member of the Duck clan would be introduced in one Scrooge McDuck. Something of a mash-up of Ebenezer Scrooge (A Christmas Carol) and Charles Foster Kane (Citizen Kane), McDuck was a wealthy, bitter hermit living in a mansion atop Bear Mountain. Dreading Christmas, McDuck devised a way to entertain himself by inviting his nephew Donald to come visit so he could scare him by dressing up as a bear. However, when Donald and his nephews arrive, through a series of events they unknowingly bring real bears into the structure. By the time McDuck reveals himself dressed up as a bear, he finds his grandnephews chasing a bear cub and Donald fainted atop the cub’s sleeping mother. Believing Donald to be sleeping with a bear by choice and thus being fearless, McDuck decides to slip away again until the following day and spend Christmas with his family. Carl Barks decided the character opened new doors and could prove an interesting avenue for new stories, bringing him back the following year for “The Old Castle’s Secret.” The concept of McDuck recruiting Donald and his nephews to look for treasure started here when they joined together to seek a fortune hidden in Dismal Downs, the McDuck ancestral home. In the years that followed, McDuck evolved from a reoccurring character to a featured one (beginning with the seminal “Only a Poor Old Man”) as the likes of Gladstone Gander, Flintheart Glomgold, the Beagle Boys (who got their own spin-off comic in 1963), Goldie O’Gilt, the Junior Woodchucks, Gyro Gearloose, Emily Quackfaster (aka Miss Typefast and Mrs. Featherby), and Magica De Spell were introduced (and later adapted in DuckTales). In fact, in 1952, McDuck’s popularity spawned the comic series Uncle Scrooge.

The popularity of Carl Barks and his Scrooge McDuck was said to have inspired the likes of Stephen Spielberg and George Lucas (specifically the boulder scene in Indiana Jones) and Osamu Tezuka, the father of Japanese comics and animation. Barks largely retired in 1967 (returning as a writer for Junior Woodchucks stories in the 1970s), oddly enough the same year McDuck made the leap to the big screen for the animated short Scrooge McDuck and Money. 1983 would lead to a starring role for McDuck in Mickey’s Christmas Carol as his namesake Ebenezer Scrooge. A few years later, he would also emerge in Sport Goofy in Soccermania. Other creators would begin to tackle the character in printed form, such as Italian writer Romano Scarpa for the European market while Barks was still making McDuck stories in America. Scarpa would expand the McDuck universe with original characters like Brigitta MacBridge and Gideon McDuck as well as explore John D. Rockerduck and Fethry Duck. However, despite surviving Barks’ retirement, it wouldn’t be until 1987 that Scrooge McDuck found another creator to raise the bar again.

“The Son of the Sun” published in 1987 in the series Uncle Scrooge featured the premier of Don Rosa to Scrooge McDuck. Having idolized Carl Barks growing up with McDuck his favorite comic character of all time, Rosa (who spent almost two decades as a cartoonist at this point) learned Gladstone Publishing had acquired the license to print Disney comics and called editor Byron Erickson. Telling Erickson he was the only American born to write and draw Scrooge McDuck, the editor decided to allow Rosa to submit a story for consideration resulting in “The Son of the Sun.” Centering around McDuck and his arch-rival Flintheart Glomgold, the story sees the pair seek out Incan treasure as Barks’ adventures with the characters are paid a high tribute. The story received widespread acclaim, a nomination for a Harvey Award, and made Rosa a major player in the Disney comic market, especially in regards to McDuck. Also in 1987, a spin-off series in Uncle Scrooge Adventures started being published. Uncle Scrooge continued past the expiration of Gladstone’s license in 1990, transitioning largely unchanged under the Disney Comics brand and survived the “Disney implosion” of 1991 (returning to Gladstone when they reacquired the license in 1993). Sadly, Gladstone ended all publication in 1998 leaving the title without a home for the first time in almost half a century. For most of the published life of Scrooge McDuck, he was a printed character that on occasion transitioned to animation. However, only a few months after Don Rosa reinvigorated the character, McDuck made television history for the Disney company.

Disney CEO Michael Eisner wanted to expand the company’s animation domain beyond shorts and films in order to tackle the growing television market. The initial offering were the series The Wuzzles and Disney’s Adventures of the Gummi Bears in 1985 but neither featured previously established Disney characters. This changed in 1987 with DuckTales. To an extent adapting Uncle Scrooge, DuckTales featured Scrooge McDuck and his grandnephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie however Donald Duck was substituted with pilot Launchpad McQuack (Donald, who was the caregiver of his nephews, had enlisted in the Navy and appeared occasionally in the series). The series began with the television movie “The Treasures of the Golden Suns” (which would subsequently be broken up into a five-part series of episodes) with the first season consisting of 65 episodes (the standard for syndication). The second season followed shortly thereafter made up of two television specials in “Time Is Money” and “Super DuckTales” which would be broken up to make ten episodes. Returning again for a third season, the show proved so popular a feature film in DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp found its way to theaters. A fourth and final season emerged resulting in one hundred episodes, making DuckTales one of the longest running Disney television series by episode length. Its final season would also lay the foundation for the popular Disney Afternoon programming block alongside Gummi Bears, Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers, and TaleSpin. The following year, a spin-off would emerge in Darkwing Duck, featuring a pulp-inspired costumed adventurer (in the style of the Shadow, Green Hornet, and Zorro) with Launchpad McQuack as his sidekick. Later, Gizmoduck (an armored hero inspired by the James Rhodes Iron Man) from DuckTales became a reoccurring character in Darkwing Duck. McDuck and McQuack would separately each make an appearance later in the series Raw Toonage.

DuckTales introduced a number of reoccurring characters to the expanding McDuck Universe. Included among these characters (besides the aforementioned Gizmoduck, secretly accountant Fenton Crackshell) was McDuck’s butler Duckworth, maid Mrs. Beakley (and her granddaughter Webby Vanderquack), Junior Woodchuck Doofus Drake, and caveduck Bubba (and his triceratops Tootsie). Near the end of the series, Capcom produced a video game based on DuckTales for the Nintendo Entertainment System largely coming from the minds behind the Mega Man game series. The game was a huge hit, considered one of the best games ever made for that console and was remastered in a new version almost a quarter of a century later for multiple platforms. A year after it was initially made, it was ported to the Game Boy portable player and in 1993 (years after the show went off the air), a sequel was produced (also ported to the Game Boy). Gladstone also published two DuckTales comic series, one while it was on the air and another later when it ran in syndication (while the series’ characters would be featured in the magazine Disney Adventures). An issue of Marvel Comics’ Disney Afternoon anthology series would also have a DuckTales adventure. As noted, before, during, and after DuckTales, Uncle Scrooge was still being produced by Gladstone. A story arc of note was “The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck.”

In comic books, it has become fairly common place for continuity to be slightly altered or radically changed. Scrooge McDuck proved to be no different. Over the years Carl Barks produced the character, changes were made over time tweaking the character, be it his design, history, or even attitude. Added to this mix, there was almost a separate continuity in Europe that at times seemed to interweave into the American counterpart (causing some small level of confusion). Add to all of this multiple creators working with McDuck following Barks’ retirement and the somewhat separate/somewhat integrated DuckTales continuity and the story of Scrooge McDuck was something of a mess. So, in 1994, Don Rosa embarked on an almost two year journey that largely took the continuity of Carl Barks, sheering away other interpretations, and creating a unified vision of what it seemed Scrooge McDuck was always meant to be starting from his origins to that fateful Christmas eve on Bear Mountain. Entitled “The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck,” thirteen issues of Uncle Scrooge chronicled Scrooge earning his first dime (known today as the Number One Dime) to his history with the Beagle Boys to his first meeting with Flintheart Glomgold to making his fortune to moving to Duckburg, Calisota to being introduced to his nephew Donald. The story is considered by many a masterpiece, earning Rosa the Will Eisner Award in 1997. Scrooge continued to be popular, so far as getting another series in The Adventurous Uncle Scrooge McDuck in 1998. However, that same year, Gladstone would fold.

Despite the closure of Gladstone, there certainly seemed to remain a market for the content it produced. So, in 2003, Diamond Comic Distributors with the editorial staff from Gladstone came together to form Gemstone Publishing. In short order, the Disney license was acquired and Uncle Scrooge returned to circulation again maintaining the same numbering from when it passed from Dell Comics to Gladstone (issue 319 by the time it came to Gemstone). Sadly, by 2008, Gemstone had run its course. However, Boom! Studios quickly acquired the dropped Disney license and picked up Uncle Scrooge where Gemstone left off. Further, Boom! resurrected DuckTales and Darkwing Duck with their own series, the two books even crossing over with each other in “Dangerous Currency” when villains from both series aligned to conquer both Duckburg and Darkwing’s city St. Canard. McDuck would also be featured in the original series Disney’s Hero Squad: Ultraheroes. Unfortunately, Boom!’s take on Disney was short-lived as Disney bought Marvel Comics in 2009 and consolidated its comic publications in-house. That being said, all of the Disney comics by Boom! came to an end (Marvel generally only tackling Pixar-related comics). A little over a month ago, it was announced IDW Publishing (who already licenses comics for Cartoon Network and Hasbro) secured a license to produce Disney comics and will publish a new Uncle Scrooge series beginning in April but for the first time in sixty-three years will abandon the original numbering.

]]>http://comicartcommunity.com/2015/03/ducktales-history-scrooge-mcduck/feed/0Make It So: Robotech the Moviehttp://comicartcommunity.com/2015/02/make-it-so-robotech-the-movie/
http://comicartcommunity.com/2015/02/make-it-so-robotech-the-movie/#commentsTue, 24 Feb 2015 05:00:29 +0000http://comicartcommunity.com/?p=10890Announced earlier this month, renewed interest in producing a live action film based on the animated series Robotech has been reported with the team behind the 300 films tackling the project.

Announced earlier this month, renewed interest in producing a live action film based on the animated series Robotech has been reported with the team behind the 300 films tackling the project. Bounced around since 2007 when Warner Bros. acquired the film rights with Tobey Maguire set to produce (and perhaps star), the project has repeatedly run into problems with several scripts produced that seemingly have yet to satisfy the studio’s higher-ups (while in 2013 it was revealed Leonardo DiCaprio has shown interest in the film, perhaps in a featured acting role, as he reportedly turned down an opportunity to be in the latest Star Wars film series so he could be available). Among the various hit franchises created in the 1980s, Robotech was one that proved extremely successfully and profitable but ended prematurely (in terms of its popularity) due to a number of extraordinary circumstances. Since then, it has repeatedly arisen in various ways with varying degrees of success (most recently, as a tabletop RPG). Lets examine what a Robotech film could entail.

NOT SO DISTANT FUTURE

The original Robotech series aired in 1985 but started within the confines of the narrative in 2009 (the television series ending canonically in 2044). Meaning, there existed a difference of almost a quarter of a century between the period it aired and the content of the series. At the time, something like that would be fine because the speed at which technology advanced was such that a few already existing Sci-Fi tropes could accommodate the difference in years. However, what the original series failed to take into account was the exponential explosion of scientific advancement that emerged by the dawn of the next century. Obviously, the creators couldn’t see into the future to see what the world would have become by 2009 but a modern audience is unlikely to afford such a luxury to an extent. In a very real sense, many elements once considered fictional areas of science are not only becoming reality, but expanding in means behind comprehension only a decade ago. This then offers a significant challenge for the creators: do they set the series twenty five years from today (where at our current rate of growth is almost inconceivable where we’ll be) or drastically cut how far into the future the series is set? The best bet would likely be the latter because we have a fairly good idea where we’ll be in, say, five years from now technology wise. Going in the other direction offers a major risk that to be an acceptable look into the future, some rather incredible educated assumptions would be made which is likely to leave the product fairly unrecognizable to the original content. Consider, Robotech employed payphones, the internet was completely unknown, and despite being based around using highly advanced alien technology, not a single 3D printer (or something similar) was in sight. In a modern setting, this clearly demonstrates an area of importance necessary to be examined.

GIANT ROBOTS

While Robotech made its mark by being a cartoon that had very real adult themes of tragedy and love, on its surface it’s a Sci-Fi piece that prominently features giant robots. From the non-transformable Destroids and Bioroids to the massive transforming fortress/spaceship SDF-1 to its iconic transforming Veritech jet fighters, giant mecha acts as a center piece for the action in the series. For the first part Macross, the most notable imagery involves the Valkyrie fighters (able to alter between three forms, namely Fighter, Guardian, and Battloid) and the Zentraedi Battle Pods. However, throughout the course of Macross and subsequent chapters, various other forms of mecha emerge (not to mention the gigantic stature of the Zentraedi, heralding back to something out of Kaiju or Kyodai Hero). As the series progressed, you had Hover Tanks (Spartas) vs Bioroids and Cyclones and Alpha/Beta Fighters vs various Invid power armors (sequels and spin-offs notwithstanding). The advent of the Transformers films has set a precedent for giant transforming mecha which Robotech would likely borrow from, however, it would arguably do the brand well to avoid being too similar to keep itself as its own entity. In other words, it has a starting point and it shouldn’t maintain as such as an endpoint (also, for consideration, the Power Rangers film franchise is set to begin next year which is likely to also provide inspiration).

MACROSS TRILOGY

The Robotech saga by design is something of a prolific series. When anime series began cropping up in the United States adapted for its foreign audience, an issue arose that Japanese series were at times shorter than the desired series length of its American counterparts. As with series like Captain Harlock and the Queen of a Thousand Years and later Voltron: Defender of the Universe, Robotech was made by combining several canonically unrelated shows (specifically, Macross, Southern Cross, and Mospeada, and later Megazone 23). However, by-and-large, Robotech is likely remembered best for its first installment which by itself is a sprawling adventure of love, loss, and war. In Macross, young flying circus trick pilot Rick Hunter surprises his “big brother” from the same circus in fighter ace Roy Fokker (head of the renowned Skull Squadron) as he prepares for the launch of the extra-terrestrial Super Dimensional Fortress One (SDF-1). Crash landing on Earth, the SDF-1 in essence brought an end to all global conflict when it revealed not only is humanity not alone in the universe, it was woefully inadequate to defend itself from alien conflict. Reverse engineered and transformed for use by mankind, trouble arises when the activated SDF-1 alerts the warrior species Zentraedi of its location plunging the world into a conflict for survival. Dragged into this sudden war, Hunter must abandon his innocence and become a soldier or face annihilation. Amidst this series of battles, a love triangle forms between Hunter and singing idol Lynn Minmay and bridge officer Lisa Hayes. The idea of trying to condense such an epic into one film is not only daunting, it would be a disservice to its original story and the resulting product. Especially considering it’s Warner Bros, perhaps a treatment like The Hobbit may work best for Robotech.

Taking quite a bit of flack for the decision, Warner Bros. chose to follow-up its Lord of the Rings trilogy of films with a trilogy based on the book The Hobbit by incorporating elements of The Silmarillion (as well as notes and letters of author J. R. R. Tolkien). Regardless of such discontent, the decision proved to be a profitable one for the film studio demonstrating that depending on the circumstances, such a move could benefit it especially in the chilly climate of theater released movies today. Such an argument could be made for Robotech considering again Macross is the most remembered and beloved portion of the series and that covering so little of its thirty-six episodes would in essence cut the narrative off at the knees. Considering the serial nature of the animated series, beats of the overall narrative could easily be arranged into three films. For example, such elements could include the SDF-1 activation/Zentraedi invasion, Rick Hunter and Lynn Minmay marooned in a section of the SDF-1, the arrival of Zentraedi commander Khyron while Hunter becomes a fighter pilot (quickly becoming a lieutenant with wingmen Ben Dixon and Max Sterling), Minmay becoming Miss Macross, and the capture/escape of Hunter’s group and Lisa Hayes for a first film. The second film could feature the introduction of Azonia, the Zentraedi’s infiltration of the SDF-1, the SDF-1’s return to Earth, the introduction of Minmay’s cousin Lynn, Hunter being critically injured, the introduction of Miriya, Roy Fokker and Dixon’s deaths, and the SDF-1’s banishment from Earth. For the trilogy’s finale, it could cover Breetai’s return, Hunter and Hayes realizing their connection, the defection of Zentraedi forces, Sterling meeting Miriya, the Breetai Zentraedi faction truce, and the final battle with the remaining Zentraedi resulting in the SDF-1’s destruction (and sacrifice of its crew). Of course, if the three films do well enough, it sets itself up for another trilogy with the Robotech Masters and after that the New Generation. In a perfect world, you could even go in with films based on The Sentinels,Robotech: The Movie, and The Shadow Chronicles (which just scratches the surface of the massive Robotech universe, books written on the events preceding Earth alone with the temptation of the Invid Regis by Zor, the builder/designer/captain of the SDF-1 who created Robotechnology).

]]>http://comicartcommunity.com/2015/02/make-it-so-robotech-the-movie/feed/0Creator Profile: Steve McNivenhttp://comicartcommunity.com/2015/02/creator-profile-steve-mcniven/
http://comicartcommunity.com/2015/02/creator-profile-steve-mcniven/#commentsThu, 19 Feb 2015 18:32:08 +0000http://comicartcommunity.com/?p=10562The Modern Age of Marvel was lead by artists like Romita Jr, Epting, and the Kuberts but perhaps one of the brightest stars to emerge in the last ten years is Steve McNiven.

For every age of the comic book industry, a crop of artists emerge that define their generation. At Marvel, the days of Kirby and Ditko gave rise to Romita, Byrne, Miller, and the Buscemas which lead to Lee, McFarlane, and Liefeld. The Modern Age of Marvel was lead by artists like Romita Jr, Epting, and the Kuberts but perhaps one of the brightest stars to emerge in the last ten years is Steve McNiven. Born in Ann Arbor, Michigan but raised mostly in and around Ontario, Canada, McNiven’s mother was an art teacher which inspired him to obtain a traditional education in art by attending Nova Scotia College of Art and Design where he earned a BA in Art Education and a BFA in Sculpture. McNiven and his wife spent some time in Seattle before she was offered a job in Toronto leading the couple to move back to Canada as McNiven began working part-time as a visual arts teacher at the high school North Toronto Collegiate Institute. McNiven, unfamiliar with anyone in the area, would stumble upon a comic shop with a co-op art studio and befriend a group of local comic book artists. A fan of comics, anime, and manga, McNiven decided to try his skill at hand drawn art working in a cartoony style inspired by his interests. After almost five years teaching and while developing a strong passion for comic art, McNiven’s wife wanted him to pursue his interest and bought him a ticket to the San Diego Comic-Con in 1999. Making a small portfolio of his art and technique, McNiven attended the event displaying his work to any company looking for talent. Eventually, a chance encounter with the Lai brothers led to the artist being hired at Florida-based company CrossGen.

As Steve McNiven and his wife welcomed their daughter Emma into the world, they prepared to move to Florida as the artist came under the tutelage the likes of Bart Sears and Brandon Peterson. McNiven developed his style, adding consistency to his work with a more realistic approach to his art. When Joshua Middleton was scooped up by Marvel Comics, McNiven replaced him as the ongoing artist on the title Meridian. McNiven would remain with CrossGen, working from his new home in Halifax, Nova Scotia, until some time before the comic company went under in 2004. The artist went to Marvel and was partnered with playwright Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa in producing Marvel Knights 4, an offshoot of the Fantastic Four title. From that point, McNiven would see little rest at the publisher as he quickly moved on to Ultimate Secret and New Avengers with Warren Ellis and Brian Michael Bendis, respectively. However, his next project would likely be his biggest assignment in his burgeoning career.

Following the success of House of M, Marvel wanted to produce another crossover event of equal or greater magnitude. Assembling Mark Millar, Brian Michael Bendis, Jeph Loeb, and J. Michael Straczynski with Marvel’s editors, the group tried to hash out this next advent. Eventually, Bendis and Millar conceived of a story of reintroducing the Superhuman Registration Act pitting hero against hero. Dubbed Civil War, Millar took over execution of the story and Steve McNiven was selected to draw the event’s main series (Millar stating in one interview Marvel viewed McNiven as the next Jim Lee). Civil War was considered groundbreaking drawing in new readers and receiving attention from larger media outlets especially in regards to Spider-Man publicly unmasking. Employing almost every major character in the Marvel Universe (as well as scores of obscure ones), McNiven had his work cut out for him consistently displaying dozens of characters while telling a major blockbuster story with them. Coincidentally, McNiven’s next project would be with your friendly neighborhood wall-crawler.

Like many other people following a great accomplishment, Steve McNiven followed completing his part of Civil War with a family vacation to Disney World. During his journey at Marvel, McNiven consistently stated he wanted to work on Spider-Man, especially in the wake of Civil War. He would get this opportunity with Dan Slott on “Brand New Day.” Following the earth-shattering events of Civil War, the status quo for Spider-Man was seemingly forever changed. His identity public knowledge, it appeared the challenges mounting against the hero were insurmountable. In response to this, a controversial decision was made to retcon the character re-instituting his secret identity and undoing his marriage of two decades to Mary Jane Watson in a storyline entitled “One More Day.” The end of J. Michael Straczynski’s mostly critically-acclaimed seven year run on Spider-Man (with many viewing his final storyline, along with his controversial “Sins Past,” as marring this distinction), Slott and McNiven were left to pick up the pieces. Introducing new villains and supporting cast, “Brand New Day” returns Spider-Man to very much a down-on-his-luck character living with his aunt but as an adult rather than teenager. In terms of recognizable comic characters, few compare to Spider-Man. However, one such individual is Wolverine where McNiven collaborated with a familiar creator for his next project in 2008.

In the storyarc “Old Man Logan,” Mark Millar and Steve McNiven once again teamed for a new take on Wolverine in a dystopian future where the supervillains defeated and wiped out the heroes (drawing parallels to Millar’s earlier work Wanted). Surviving this war, Logan tried to live as a family man until circumstances forced him back into action and, eventually, to become a hero again. The story proved to be a big hit and lead the duo to collaborate on another project the following year, this time creator-owned but published under Marvel’s Icon imprint in a title called Nemesis. Under the simple premise of “What if Batman was The Joker?” arose the concept of a Batman-like character that was a criminal and as mad as the Joker. Also borrowing slightly from Millar’s creator-owned series Kick-Ass which featured a world without super-powered heroes, the eponymous star of Nemesis was his world’s only costumed criminal. Having worked on such iconic characters as the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, and Wolverine, McNiven would tackle another of Marvel’s biggest stars with another one of their biggest writers.

Following the events of Civil War, Captain America was seemingly assassinated as his former partner Bucky adopted his mantle. However, this was instead an elaborate ruse by the Red Skull and Steve Rogers would return only to ask Bucky to continue to bear his name and shield. Rogers would be pardoned of his crimes during Civil War and become the head of S.H.I.E.L.D., overseeing the Avengers (later, leading a black-ops version of the group called the Secret Avengers). When Bucky is apparently murdered, Rogers again takes up the shield for another Captain America series produced by Ed Brubaker with art by Steve McNiven. For “American Dreamers,” Rogers’ WWII romantic partner Peggy Carter passed away bringing together the star-spangled hero and some of the remnants of the Howling Commandos. The occasion sparks an attack by Hydra leading to a confrontation with the organization as Rogers’ current girlfriend, Peggy’s niece Sharon, is abducted by the villains. The following year, McNiven would get to try his hand at scripting in addition to art with the “Captain America vs. Gambit” issue of AvX: VS (pitting the Avengers and X-Men against each other). Also in 2012, the artist would begin an infrequent relationship with the New York Times providing art pieces for some articles including “Cocaine Incorporated: How a Mexican Drug Cartel Makes Its Billions” about Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel and “Data You Can Believe In: The Obama Campaign’s Digital Masterminds Cash In” about Barack Obama’s use of data mining to win elections.

As the workload of Steve McNiven increased and more requests for his collaborations on projects came in, the slower pace of the artist to ensure the quality of his product was becoming bothersome. In an effort to move along his speed at a quicker rate, McNiven began the process of opening his own studio called Carbon Sun Studios with colorists Simon West and Andy Cotnam and artist Greg Brown. Mark Millar wanted to produce a sequel to Nemesis originally called Nemesis 2 and later Nemesis Returns but it was decided to avoid delays in its publication, work on the project would wait until McNiven could meet his obligations in regards to his assignments for Marvel. In 2012, this meant a redesign of the Guardians of the Galaxy in the wake of Marvel NOW! A relaunch of the Marvel Universe following the earth-shattering events of Avengers vs. X-Men (which featured the return of the Phoenix Force), Marvel NOW! saw many of the company’s most popular titles begin again with number one issues. As the DnA (Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning) reconfigured Guardians of the Galaxy was slated to be adapted for the big screen, McNiven was tasked with redesigning their uniforms, hoping to find some common ground with what ended up in the film (unfortunately, Hollywood was not at that stage until after McNiven’s work on the book was already completed). Brian Michael Bendis would again team with McNiven in this reinvention of the Guardians as Iron Man joined the group. McNiven would finish out the year with a brief stint on Uncanny Avengers (a mash-up of X-Men and Avengers) with Rick Remender.

For 2014, Steve McNiven returned to the character of Wolverine, this time however with writer Charles Soule. For the mostly-weekly storyline “Death of Wolverine,” the X-Man’s healing factor shuts down and his varied foes return seeking vengeance. In a story that takes the character from Canada to Madripoor to Japan and features a supporting cast like Nuke, Viper, Sabretooth, Lady Deathstrike, Kitty Pryde, Ogun, Cyber, and Dr. Cornelius (formerly of Weapon X), in a manner covering the career of Wolverine, the story culminates ultimately in his demise. Recently, it was announced McNiven and Soule would re-team for the upcoming Uncanny Inhumans in April, a companion series to Soule’s Inhuman title. As Black Bolt abdicated his crown to his wife Medusa, the previous Inhumans series focused on her journey as new Inhumans around the world emerge. In the upcoming series, Black Bolt will star as he’s goes out on his own against a yet revealed powerful foe.

]]>http://comicartcommunity.com/2015/02/creator-profile-steve-mcniven/feed/0Make It So: Legion of Super-Heroeshttp://comicartcommunity.com/2015/02/make-it-so-legion/
http://comicartcommunity.com/2015/02/make-it-so-legion/#commentsSun, 15 Feb 2015 04:54:25 +0000http://comicartcommunity.com/?p=10282According to rumor website Bleeding Cool, following the success of Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy and considering Warner Bros' desire to mimic Disney's success with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, rumor has it a Legion of Super-Heroes film is being considered for development.

According to rumor website Bleeding Cool, following the success of Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy and considering Warner Bros’ desire to mimic Disney’s success with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, rumor has it a Legion of Super-Heroes film is being considered for development. Originally infrequent supporting characters to Superboy (Superman’s adventures as a teenager), the Legion grew into its own franchise initially featuring teenage aliens from the future who would jaunt to the past to summon Superboy for their extraordinary adventures. Over the years, the Legion developed into a vast cast of characters that became something of a joke to older readers as for every conceivable super power, there seemed to be a unique Legionnaire who represented it (like Matter-Eater Lad, Antennae Boy, and Arm Fall Off Boy). During the late 1970s and most of the 1980s, the Legion underwent a Renaissance under the direction of Paul Levitz that made the title one of the best comics of its time with the underrated “Earthwar” followed by the much-lauded, critically acclaimed “The Great Darkness Saga” (featuring the emergence of Darkseid in the 30th century). Arguably this was the greatest height of the Legion, another bright spot being following the events of Zero Hour under the direction of Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning (DnA, whose reinvention of the Guardians of the Galaxy was the basis of the Marvel film). Lets take a look at what an adaptation of the Legion of Super-Heroes could entail.

SUPERBOY

This would likely be the biggest area of contention for the film. Movies based on comic books generally avoid crossing over however considering Disney’s success in this area with its Marvel properties and Warner Bros’ desire to imitate this success, it makes sense to connect the Legion of Super-Heroes with the Superman franchise (of which they were originally aligned). Further, this idea is supported by the fact Man of Steel prominently featured a teenage Superman in Dylan Sprayberry (Teen Wolf). What makes the concept something fertile for drama in a Legion film is that a major turning point in Man of Steel was a teenage Clark Kent allowing his own adopted father to die before his eyes, likely the dominant catalyst for why the hero chose to become an aimless nomad rather than reveal himself to the world (until the Earth was attacked by Krypton’s survivors). In a manner, bringing Clark Kent to the future can show another path he could have went had his adopted father not forced Clark to let him die and instead become the hero he was always meant to be (which could be moderately redeeming for detractors of Man of Steel).

SCALED DOWN LEGION

With a name like the Legion of Super-Heroes, the group certainly did not exaggerate this claim as throughout its years its membership has bloated to over six dozen heroes not including allies like the Legion of Substitute Heroes, Heroes of Lallor, Wanderers, and Workforce. Obviously, to be adapted for film, in some manner this has to be trimmed down. Likely, this would be achieved by displaying the group in its infancy or employing some story element that sidelined all but a handful of members. Regarding who should appear, the original trio of Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl, and Lightning Lad are a no-brainer as they’re the founders, the group that recruited Superboy, and arguably the stars of the series throughout its history. Another strong contender for who should appear is Brainiac 5 considering his prominence in the group throughout its existence and the connection his lineage has to Superman (being something of an ancestor of Brainiac, arguably Superman’s greatest foe next to Lex Luthor). Beyond those four (five if Superboy is included), there’s any number of other candidates though its unlikely the group in the film will feature any more than seven characters. Some other strong nominees are Chameleon Boy, Star Boy, Shrinking Violet, Ultra Boy, and Timber Wolf.

THE 30th CENTURY

Part of the intrigue of doing a film like Legion of Super-Heroes over any number of properties available from DC Comics is to create a world alien yet familiar. Perhaps borrowing elements from something like Star Trek, the Legion series generally depicts a relative utopia which has become exceptionally rare in works of fiction over the past decades (dystopian visions make-up the overwhelming majority of fiction based in the future). Considering the advances in science today which often times mirrors some of the technology used in various Star Trek media, it can be both interesting and daunting to envision what technology could exist almost a millennium from now (considering the Legion began at the tail end of the 30th century, the series later transitioning into the 31st century). Architecture, entertainment, travel, medicine, and so much more could help create an entire world the film industry has yet to even comprehend. In such a manner, a Legion film could be an innovation and progenitor for the film industry years from now (not to mention instill new ideas and concepts in viewers in the same way Star Trek’s writers helped inspire the science of today). For example, all Legionnaires are equipped with a Legion Flight Ring which permits flight by mental command, communication between those wearing rings, and the ability to move unhindered and unharmed in harsh environments like outer space and under water.

FATAL FIVE

While the Legion of Super-Heroes has a rich rogues gallery with the likes of the Time Trapper, COMPUTO, Mordru, Pulsar Stargrave, and the Khund Empire, arguably the villains most closely associated with the group is the Fatal Five. Composed of some of the five most dangerous villains in the universe, the Fatal Five are made up of the Emerald Empress, Tharok, Mano, Persuader, and Validus. Unfortunately for the Legion, the villainous group was created by their organization of heroes. When a Sun-Eater threatened to extinguish the Earth’s sun (wiping out all life in the solar system), the Legion was forced to recruit the most dangerous criminals in the cosmos dubbed by the Science Police to be the “Fatal Five” (their version of a most wanted list). Following the destruction of the Sun-Eater, the five villains escaped and adopted the moniker of the Fatal Five as their group’s name becoming one of the most frequent and dangerous threats to the Legion. The Empress commands the Emerald Eye of Ekron, an artifact of immense power formerly worshiped on the planet Ekron as a god. Tharok was once a petty thief until half of his body was destroyed and replaced with cybernetic components (providing a techno-organic brain of immense intellect and an arm that can adapt into virtually any weapon). Mano is a mass-murderer and mutant with an anti-matter touch able to destroy anything his right hand touches. The Persuader is an assassin of immense strength and durability who wields an “atomic axe,” a weapon that can cut through virtually anything (even immaterial things like gravity and space). Validus is pure and simply a monster, a nigh-mindless beast something like twelve times stronger than a Kryptonian that can unleash devastating bolts of energy from its brain.

]]>http://comicartcommunity.com/2015/02/make-it-so-legion/feed/0From Page to Screen: The Titanshttp://comicartcommunity.com/2015/02/from-page-to-screen-titans/
http://comicartcommunity.com/2015/02/from-page-to-screen-titans/#commentsFri, 13 Feb 2015 04:22:41 +0000http://comicartcommunity.com/?p=10086Recently, the pilot script for TNT's upcoming television series The Titans based on DC Comics' Teen Titans has reportedly been leaked. Likely the biggest reveal from this leak is the roster for the group which features a blend of the classic team with some more obscure characters and a familiar face from the Batman family.

Recently, the pilot script for TNT’s upcoming television series The Titans based on DC Comics’ Teen Titans has reportedly been leaked. Likely the biggest reveal from this leak is the roster for the group which features a blend of the classic team with some more obscure characters and a familiar face from the Batman family. It should be noted, however, the cast may yet change for the series (especially considering actors are still yet being cast) but that seems unlikely considering TNT has rushed production of the series. Also, yet known is if the series will tie into the greater DC Television Universe (teased by CW president Mark Pedowitz) which already includes Arrow, Flash, and the upcoming animated Vixen series and rumor has it will include CBS’ upcoming Supergirl series. So, characters like Arsenal, Speedy, Kid Flash, and Supergirl could very well find their way to the series (not to mention villains like Deathstroke, Brother Blood, and Clock King). Until speculation becomes proved or disproved, however, lets look at what the series will start with.

DICK GRAYSON

Abandoning his Robin identity following a dissolution of his partnership with Batman, Dick Grayson has moved to Boston and become a detective (at some point, adopting the Nightwing costume and name). As the original costumed child sidekick which virtually all others have derived, Grayson has largely been forgotten by the live action adaptations of the Batman universe due to the suspension of disbelief that an adult would expose a child to such danger (or the perceived silliness of the solitary Dark Knight adopting a colorful, jovial companion to join his adventures). In this manner, the character may best be served in the capacity Titans will place him in as the lead character largely cutoff from the greater Batman universe. Regarding Robin’s connection to the Titans in the comics, he was a founding member alongside Kid Flash, Aqualad, and Wonder Girl (aka ‘the Cool Quartet’ or ‘the Fab Foursome’) where Green Arrow’s sidekick Speedy made various guest appearances before finally joining (retroactively, he was made a founding member). Considering Robin’s historic significance and larger fame, the character was viewed as the group’s leader by readers which seemingly grew into his being their leader in the comics (and various media) at some point. It wouldn’t be until the group’s reinvention as the New Teen Titans Robin abandoned his persona as Batman’s colorful companion and, in part, adopted a character Superman portrayed in the Bottle City of Kandor called Nightwing. Since this change, Grayson has largely remained as Nightwing eventually adopting the use of fighting sticks from Eskrima/Arnis/Kali called yantok as his weapon of choice.

BARBARA GORDON

Formerly costumed adventurer Batgirl, Barbara Gordon was injured and made wheelchair bound where she found new life as a hacker assisting Dick Grayson in his trials and tribulations. In the comics, Gordon is the daughter of police commissioner James Gordon and who fought alongside Batman and Robin for years as Batgirl before the Joker shot her, damaging her spine and taking away from her the use of her legs. Later, Gordon would adopt the hacker handle of Oracle assisting the Suicide Squad before opening up her services to others like the Birds of Prey and Justice League of America. What’s interesting about the inclusion of Gordon is that she was never a member of the Titans in the comics and thus far she will not use the identity of Oracle in the series (though surely this could change and likely will). However, most interesting is the possibilities available should Titans join the DCTVU in that Arrow has already introduced the Suicide Squad, Huntress, and Black Canary (meaning the evergrowing presence of DC Comics on television has a backdoor for expanding even further with the groundwork for a Birds of Prey series all but laid).

RAVEN

Little is yet known about The Titans‘ version of Raven save she will have the alter ego of Rachel Roth (an element created in recent years by Geoff Johns who today acts as Chief Creative Officer of DC Entertainment). Historically in the comics, Raven was responsible for the reformation of the Teen Titans resulting in the New Teen Titans when she warned Earth’s heroes about the coming of her father Trigon, an inter-dimensional demon of immense, godlike power. When the Justice League refused to pay her heed, she instead brought together the Titans to combat him where they succeeded in sealing his power for a while. Since then, Raven has been a fixture of the team’s journey and has enjoyed a bit of fame as one of the more beloved characters of the animated Teen Titans, New Teen Titans, and Teen Titans Go! series (as well as the video game Injustice: Gods Among Us).

STARFIRE

Less is known about the character of Starfire who in the comics is Koriand’r, a princess of Tamaran betrayed by her sister Komand’r and made her slave. The sisters would later be kidnapped and experimented upon, given remarkable new solar-based powers which Koriand’r used to escape to Earth where she met Robin and joined the Titans. Over the years, a romance bloomed between Grayson and Koriand’r (now going by the codename Starfire) that almost resulted in their marriage. Afterward, the pair remained good friends and on-again/off-again lovers (which in Titans could result in a love triangle between Grayson, Gordon, and Starfire). Starfire became a mainstay of the Titans, later becoming a mentor to the next generation of teenaged Titans (she would later leave to join the Outsiders alongside Nightwing). Today, Starfire is likely best known by the public by her animated version in Teen Titans, New Teen Titans, and Teen Titans Go!

HAWK and DOVE

Something of an oddball entry, Hawk and Dove were brothers Hank and Don Hall who were complete polar opposites. When placed in danger, they finally agreed for the first time in their young lives leading to a pair of mysterious voices offering them power. These voices, belonging to a Lord of Chaos and a Lord of Order (godlike beings who maintain balance in the universe), empowered the young men making the conservative, macho Hank the super-strong Hawk and liberal, soft spoken Don the supremely-agile Dove. Later, the duo became infrequent allies of the Teen Titans eventually joining the team’s west coast expansion. Some years later, Don would die in the line of duty as his abilities passed on to a woman named Dawn Granger who adopted his mantle. Dawn would later be killed by a future version of Hank leading to the present day Hank suffering a psychotic break, setting the stage for the emergence of the future Hank. Dawn would later be revealed to be alive and her sister Holly inherited Hank’s powers and mantle. Hank, who had died and was resurrected in a mind-controlled fashion, went on to kill Holly and he would be truly resurrected, again assuming the role of Hawk. For Titans, the duo of Hank Hall and Dawn Granger will be employed.

]]>http://comicartcommunity.com/2015/02/from-page-to-screen-titans/feed/0WWE: A Four-Color Solutionhttp://comicartcommunity.com/2015/02/wwe-four-color-solution/
http://comicartcommunity.com/2015/02/wwe-four-color-solution/#commentsTue, 03 Feb 2015 17:34:33 +0000http://comicartcommunity.com/?p=9371As industry insiders and fans alike try to pin down ways in which the bad fortunes of the WWE can be reversed before the future of the company is placed in jeopardy, its salvation may lie in comic books.

In the realm of professional wrestling in the United States, the undisputed king is the WWE, World Wrestling Entertainment. However, today the company rests in a precarious position. While viewership of its television programming has diminished in recent years, it nonetheless remains strong for the channels that air such programs. But in terms of business, remaining stagnant is not an ideal model. In an effort to take advantage of its expansive library of content and to cut out the middleman in pay-per-view (PPV) programming, the company started an online streaming service called the WWE Network. Not only has the development produced less than desirable results, its created an economic strain on the company that has forced the WWE to cut corners in its budget. Making matters worse, in the last few years, fan satisfaction in the product has diminished to the point that the creative forces behind the company have been in something of a tailspin unable to distinguish how to tell compelling stories, create images that can be heavily merchandised (which has largely been the fuel that has kept the company thriving), and what talent should be placed in the forefront. In a very real way, these issues converged in last month’s 2015 Royal Rumble which saw the crowd turn on the event during its finale and spurred an on-line movement towards a mass exodus of subscribers from the WWE Network (something that trended worldwide in #CancelWWENetwork for almost a full day). As industry insiders and fans alike try to pin down ways in which the bad fortunes of the WWE can be reversed before the future of the company is placed in jeopardy, its salvation may lie in comic books.

While the relationship between comic books and pro wrestling has already been covered previously in detail, the essence is that both come from a similar place. Both are forms of storytelling elemental in nature heralding back to mythology and archetypes imprinted in our species seemingly since the dawn of civilization and beyond. What’s interesting is this bond is not new ground for pro wrestling be it comic book-esque characters like Max Moon, Vader, Undertaker, Kane, Goldust, Stardust, Sting, and the Hurricane (Philadelphia-based promotion Chikara is essentially a live action comic book) or comic books about pro wrestling (such as current series WWE Superstars and its recent “Legends” storyline which borrowed elements of Secret Wars and Crisis on Infinite Earths) which have existed for decades. However, what has changed is the execution of such elements in the WWE due in large part to how gimmick-based wrestlers became so rampant in the early 1990s it almost led to the company’s downfall. What would save the WWE would be what’s known today as the Attitude Era, which blurred the lines between reality and performance. The rebound was such that it essentially helped obliterate the competition, a development that has helped lead to the WWE’s current predicament where it alone would have to choose to break new (or revisit old) ground or play it safe and remain essentially unchanged. Remaining more-or-less in the past with the only real change being to defang its adult elements to make the product all ages, the WWE fell into mediocrity and struggles to continue to play in this limited vision. For comic book fans, such conditions sound eerily familiar to those necessitating the end of an age.

For modern wrestling fans, ages have casually referenced certain advents in the sport. When Hulk Hogan came to power in the WWF to create Hulkamania, this period has commonly been called the Golden Age (or the Second Golden Age, the time before either a pre-age or the original Golden Age, sort of like pulp magazines and radio/film serials for comic fans). The Attitude Era, especially in terms of the ascension of Stone Cold Steve Austin, has been viewed as the Silver Age. Regarding the Modern Age, that would likely best be defined by the prominence of John Cena while Austin retired from competition and popular performer the Rock transitioned to a film career. One of the points of contention in the current age of wrestling is the dominance of Cena, often referred by his detractors as Super Cena for his ability to remain at the forefront of the company as an almost cosmic force over virtually all other talent (fueled in large part with his popularity with younger viewers and sales of his merchandise). Interestingly enough, Cena is portrayed as a Superman-esque character in the new video game WWE Immortals (developed by the company that produced Injustice: Gods Among Us). Aligning these ages in comic book terms essentially means Hulkamania being the Golden Age, the dominance of the gimmick wrestler (like Big Daddy Cool Diesel, Razor Ramon, and the Heartbreak Kid Shawn Michaels) being the Silver Age, the Attitude Era the Dark Age, and what is the Modern Age for both as both industries try to find their footing in a world that both craves nostalgia while wanting something fresh and different. What the WWE needs is a revolution and perhaps what may best facilitate that would be its own version of Marvel’s Civil War.

When Marvel Comics executed its event Civil War, the battle lines between its audience was just as decisive as its characters. Therein, a tragedy leads the US government to seek to turn superheroes into trained agents whose identity would be known to the authorities. While certainly not a new idea, the event came about as several high profile heroes led by Iron Man actually sided with the government creating a rift. The heroes that foresaw what trouble the advent would create were led by Captain America and would ultimately lose do in part to Iron Man enlisting supervillains in a Freedom Force/Suicide Squad-inspired version of the Thunderbolts. The event proved to be very popular and created drama that propelled various continuing titles and spawned new series. However, the fallout would ultimately fall short when it bucked largely the comic book golden rule of maintaining the status quo forcing several unfavorable fixes in the years that followed to return the product largely to what it was prior to the event. Wrestling, on the other hand, tends to fall into its own interesting problem.

In the WWE, the status quo either tends to change at a breakneck speed or drags on unnecessarily for months on end. For the former, a popular concept is a “turn” where a hero (face) turns into a villain (heel) or vice versa. What ends up happening is enemies become allies and back over the turn of weeks or months creating a huge mess of continuity (there’s a running joke about performer the Big Show who has turned over twenty times in the past fifteen years). In the latter, the same performers will face each other repeatedly almost week-in/week-out for months, often finally coming to an end at one of the handful of big PPVs throughout the year. Both of these issues tie directly into the idea that the fans of the WWE are casual viewers and diehards who will never abandon the product. The inherent problem with this is that it doesn’t generally attract new viewers, instead relying on current fans to more-or-less raise families that will maintain the company (a shaky prospect to say the least). However, this means Civil Wars’ shortfalls can be WWE’s strength.

The Attitude Era in WWE largely developed from a storyline from competitor WCW. The rival company managed to secure some of WWE’s top talent resulting in a storyline where it seemed the WWE was invading the promotion (inspired by a storyline in Japan involving the UWF and NJPW). This group, later adopting the name the New World Order (nWo), managed to decimate WCW’s biggest stars and essentially held the company hostage for several years. It was due to this story that for once in its existence, WCW managed to consistently secure higher ratings than its competition igniting what’s known today as the Monday Night Wars. In response, WWE integrated more realistic content that was generally violent and sexual in nature (arguably borrowing elements from smaller promotion ECW) which would trump what WCW was producing. Eventually, WCW and ECW would close their doors leaving WWE the undisputed leader in American pro wrestling. WWE would buy out its competitors and establish its own invasion, bringing in WCW and ECW talent into WWE under the idea they were coming to conquer it only for the storyline to flop because so much of the top WCW talent refused to come to WWE at that point as those that arrived were largely treated as enhancement talent (aka “jobbers”) demonstrating the in-ring dominance of WWE performers. Another invasion would be attempted later with WWE’s developmental program NXT which seemingly fizzled as well. Elsewhere, in NJPW (arguably Japan and perhaps the world’s greatest wrestling promotion), an invasion storyline would help reinvigorate the industry when the generally gaijin (foreign) stable known as Bullet Club invaded its company (while in Chikara, every latest season seems to involve an invading force be it the BDK, Gekido, or the Flood). What all of this means is that perhaps thus far in terms of story, the WWE has been thinking too small. It requires a threat that would make the storyline compelling, help create or strengthen heel and face characters, and force its largely apathetic audience to become invested.

John Cena has acted as the stalwart face of WWE over the past ten-plus years where the company is now trying to force a new talent on fans named Roman Reigns which has met with resistance considering Reigns’ limited experience and current level of talent. In the middle is likely the undisputed favorite of fans in the WWE roster in Daniel Bryan, someone who defies the appearance of what management observes as a defining face for the company. Regarding heels, likely the hottest antagonist in recent years is the manipulative Bray Wyatt who is the performer fans love to hate but seemingly the creative forces of the company can’t figure out what to do with anymore. For comic fans, it wouldn’t be hard to see how these characters could in some manner intermingle with elements the likes of Captain America, Iron Man, Spider-Man, and Norman Osborn as they were in Civil War and its aftermath. As for a threat demanding such a storyline, likely combining elements of reality with an invasion angle could bear fruit (as the Modern Age so often borrows from the past but with a fresh spin). In other words, the economic crisis facing the WWE exasperated by a hungry corporate shark that smells blood in the water (someone like a Donald Trump or Mark Cuban). And then there’s adding definition to its roster which has been referenced as having a problem of “anonymous white guys in trunks.”

To expound on the point, a large chunk of the WWE roster is composed of muscular Caucasian performers in trunks with a somewhat realistic name which bucks an idea the company had some years ago of offering a variety of talent. The roster should expand, incorporating more performers with different body types, skin colors, and wrestling backgrounds (Mexican lucha libre, Japanese puroresu, British wrestling, etc) as it had in the past when the product was significantly more appealing. Further, the idea of a gimmick should not be such a dirty word. Consider, brothers Dustin and Cody Rhodes were both remarkable in-ring talents but seemed to lack a flair that distinguished them (especially in the shadow of their world famous father “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes). Transitioning into the unique personas of Goldust and Stardust respectively transformed them into instantly recognizable entities. And then there is, of course, the Undertaker. Known as “Mean” Mark Callous in WCW, Mark Calaway would have a fateful encounter with Hulk Hogan during the filming of one of the superstar’s films that saw Calaway come to the WWE as the Phenom, the Deadman, the Undertaker. For a quarter of a century, the Undertaker would be a force of nature in the WWE that helped develop such talent in story as Kane, Mankind, Edge and Christian, and the Acolytes. In recent years, the Undertaker’s age has caught up with him which at present will see some of the last remaining gimmick wrestlers in WWE come to an end. While certainly the days of Duke “The Dumpster” Droese, Doink the Clown, The Goon, Phantasio, The Mountie, Gobbledy Gooker, and Mantaur should be a cautionary tale, they shouldn’t be a moratorium on gimmicks in general.

]]>http://comicartcommunity.com/2015/02/wwe-four-color-solution/feed/0Review: Al Rio Tribute Art Book – Volume Onehttp://comicartcommunity.com/2015/01/review-al-rio-art-book/
http://comicartcommunity.com/2015/01/review-al-rio-art-book/#commentsTue, 06 Jan 2015 18:27:41 +0000http://comicartcommunity.com/?p=7329On the short list of modern day "good girl art" masters, illustrator Al Rio passed away in January 2012 leaving behind a wife and three children. Following his loss, steps were taken to support his family in a tribute art book...

Three years ago this month, the comic book industry lost one of its stars. On the short list of modern day “good girl art” masters, illustrator Al Rio passed away in January 2012 leaving behind a wife and three children. Following his loss, steps were taken to support his family in a tribute art book put together by Rio’s friends and collaborators resulting in a Kickstarter campaign last summer. With a goal of raising $5,500 to finance publication, the book went beyond the goal amassing over $8,800. Further, with a projected publication date of April 2015, the book instead saw print last month. Available to the public now through Al Rio’s website, the Al Rio Tribute Art Book – Volume One (2003-2005) opens with a brief biography of the artist followed by three chapters each outlining selected pieces of art Al Rio produced during the years 2003, 2004, and 2005. The hardcover book’s three chapters feature seventy all color pages of art including sketches and finished art with characters from many of the industry’s most well-known publishers.

No stranger to art books, Al Rio’s work was previously collected as such in Exposed: The Erotic Art of Al Rio issues one and two and The Art of Al Rio volumes one and two (all of which grew in value, Exposed currently fetching about ten to fifteen times cover price). However, this latest offering is different. From the most basic standpoint, Al Rio Tribute Art Book – Volume One is a hardcover with all color pages where previous books tended to be softcover and/or black & white (also, the latest book has more pages than previous volumes). But more importantly, the tribute book takes a significantly more accurate snapshot of Al Rio’s career and interests. Mentioned previously, Rio was known for his good girl art and his art books reflected this where this newest addition amply supplies such pin-ups but also includes a large breadth of comic art (while avoiding any nude art like in past books). Spending much of his professional career working for Marvel, the Al Rio book includes gorgeous pieces of the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, X-Men, Dr. Strange, Ultimate Thor, and the Avengers (not to mention a two page spread of assorted heroes and villains). However, also included are many images of DC characters, notably Superman, Supergirl, and Wonder Woman (the latter accounting for almost two dozen selections including a full page, in-color image of the Lynda Carter incarnation). Non-Big Two art also appears such as pieces from WildStorm (where Rio initially made his name in the industry) and Zenescope (which accounted for much of his professional work in his later years). Calling the book a tribute is certainly appropriate due to the variety of material selected from just a three year period in Al Rio’s career. Largely, the only negative about the book is that it doesn’t outline when the second volume will be available. Hopefully such a period will be measured in months rather than years.

On the heels of the release of Nocturnals: Legend, an art book by Big Wow! Art celebrating twenty years of Dan Brereton’s Nocturnals, a Kickstarter campaign to fund Nocturnals: The Sinister Path has recently gone live. The first original story centering around Brereton’s band of Halloween-inspired pulp/horror characters since 2008, the Nocturnals tells the story of occult adventurer Doc Horror, his clairvoyant daughter Eve (aka Halloween Girl), her silent guardian Gunwitch, and their band of monstrous allies as they deal with aliens, mobsters, and, of course, creatures of the night. For Sinister Path, a new band of elder Nocturnals emerge in the Children of the Judge, a malevolent mirror version of Horror’s group, as Eve is haunted by alien spirits in her dreams terrorizing her from the nether realm. First published in 1994, the Nocturnals have become the greatest work produced yet by painter and writer Dan Brereton, also known for his work on Batman: Thrillkiller, Superman and Batman: Legends of the World’s Finest, and JLA: Seven Caskets. Sinister Path will see the return of favorites like Polychrome, Starfish, Firelion, and the Raccoon as well as the addition of Jammybottoms, another doll in Eve’s menagerie of possessed poppets linked to the phantasms that now stalk her.

The Kickstarter following meeting its goal of raising $30,000 is set to see publication of Nocturnals: The Sinister Path in Fall 2015 with a projected sixty-four page original graphic novel. Thus far, the story has been plotted and written with twelve pages already produced. After just two days of going live, the campaign is already over 90% funded with pledge levels ranging from $5 for a PDF copy of the OGN up to $7,000 with a hardcover expanded edition of the book along with the original art used for the book’s wraparound cover. However, the highest pledge has already been secured as well as several of the other high end pledges that include original sketches and art by Dan Brereton. As of this writing, pledges at the $925, $750, $725, and $500 levels yet remain. If you’re a fan of Brereton and/or the Nocturnals, you should consider your available pledge level sooner rather than later. To learn more about the Nocturnals, you can go to their website at Nocturnals.com and the Kickstarter can be found here.

]]>http://comicartcommunity.com/2015/01/the-nocturnals-sinister-path/feed/0Comic Art Commissions Holiday Art 2014http://comicartcommunity.com/2014/12/comic-art-commissions-holiday-art-2014/
http://comicartcommunity.com/2014/12/comic-art-commissions-holiday-art-2014/#commentsSun, 14 Dec 2014 19:30:04 +0000http://comicartcommunity.com/?p=6178Comic Art Commissions Holiday Art 2014 The artists at Comic Art Commissions were asked to share their Holiday art and here are the ones I received from all kinds of artists – both traditional and digital. If you like the art you see – go to their Comic Art Commissions page and “Send Message” to […]

The artists at Comic Art Commissions were asked to share their Holiday art and here are the ones I received from all kinds of artists – both traditional and digital. If you like the art you see – go to their Comic Art Commissions page and “Send Message” to them asking about commissions!

2014 Top 50 Comic Book Artists #40-31

Here are the next ten artists that you voted as your favorites of all-time (out of roughly 1,040 ballots cast, with 10 points for first place votes, 9 points for second place votes, etc.).

NOTE: Don’t be a jerk about creators in the comments section. If you are not a fan of a particular creator, that’s fine, but be respectful about it. No insulting creators or otherwise being a jerk about creators. I’ll be deleting any comments like that and, depending on how jerky the comment was, banning commenters.

40. Joe Kubert – 307 points (6 first place votes)

Very few artists could ever claim to be regular working artists in the Golden Age of comics and still working as a regular comic book artist after 2010, but Joe Kubert is one of those people. He remained an acclaimed artist all the way until he passed away, still working on new comic books for DC Comics.

While Kubert was an excellent superhero artist and if you asked him, he’d probably say he preferred drawing stuff like Tarzan or his caveman character Tor best of all, he is most known for his work on DC’s war comics. He was so good at it that they up and GAVE him the books to run eventually.

His most famous character that he worked on was definitely Sgt. Rock. Here is a bit from one of the most famous Rock stories of all-time, “The Four Faces of Sgt. Rock” from Our Army at War #127 (written by Kanigher). It was one of those stories where different people tell stories about Rock from different perspectives. Here’s one about how Rock kept getting on a new recruit who kept lagging behind the others. He kept dealing Rock that he really was fast, but he was just loaded down by all his gear. Rock didn’t acknowledge it and it drove the kid sort of nuts, to the point where during one battle, he decides to show how fast he really was…

Powerful artwork.

39. Barry Windsor-Smith – 319 points (3 first place votes)

Starting in the 1960s with a highly Jack Kirby-esque style, Barry Windsor-Smith came to true prominence during his run on Conan the Barbarian with writer Roy Thomas. Not content, though, to rest on his substantial laurels, Windsor-Smith continued to develop his style dramatically, keeping his excellent storytelling skills and adding in more and more stylized touches. One of his most famous works was a one-off issue of Uncanny X-Men that he did with Chris Claremont. Check out how much stunning detail that there is in this work while never sacrificing fluidity of movement….

This is roughly his current style, and whenever he comes out with a new comic book work (which is sadly rare nowadays), you know it is going to look excellent.

38. Chris Bachalo – 322 points (6 first place votes)

After making his debut with some Sandman work, Chris Bachalo became a star artist through a long run on Shade the Changing Man with writer Peter Milligan and inker Mark Buckinghma. There, Bachalo’s sense of wild design made him stand out from most artists – he has a manic energy to him but he is able to keep the story on point.

His early work with Buckingham, though, got to the point eventually where Buckingham’s style was almost overwhelming Bachalo, to the point where the initial samples I used from late in their Shade run could almost be seen as either artist, so I’ll instead go with some later Bachalo.

Bachalo left Shade for a prominent gig on a new X-title, Generation X. It was here where Buckingham and Bachalo parted ways and Bachalo got even more frenetic with his work. Bachalo has worked mostly for Marvel the past twenty years, especially in the X-Office, where he has had multiple stints on Uncanny X-Men (including launching the current Uncanny X-Men series) plus launching Wolverine and the X-Men. He also had a short stint as one of the regular artists on Amazing Spider-Man. It is here that I’ll use as a modern Bachalo sample, since it is a Spider-Man/Wolverine team-up, so you get the best of both worlds!

]]>http://comicartcommunity.com/2014/12/top-50-comic-book-artists-40-31/feed/0Suicide Squad: The Story of Task Force Xhttp://comicartcommunity.com/2014/11/suicide-squad/
http://comicartcommunity.com/2014/11/suicide-squad/#commentsWed, 26 Nov 2014 05:35:20 +0000http://comicartcommunity.com/?p=5022Considering the success of Marvel Studios at the box office, Warner Bros. has poised itself to make a similar dash with its DC Comics properties. One recently announced project reportedly featuring some of its most iconic characters is Suicide Squad. Herein, supervillains are recruited as special operatives for the US government to commute their sentences in return for taking assignments with a low projected survival rate. In other words, forming a "Suicide Squad."

Considering the success of Marvel Studios at the box office, Warner Bros. has poised itself to make a similar dash with its DC Comics properties. One recently announced project reportedly featuring some of its most iconic characters is Suicide Squad. Herein, supervillains are recruited as special operatives for the US government to commute their sentences in return for taking assignments with a low projected survival rate. In other words, forming a “Suicide Squad.” The concept certainly has some origins in The Dirty Dozen, a 1967 blockbuster war film about a ragtag band of criminal soldiers given a suicide mission. That film itself may have been based on the real life “Filthy Thirteen” who operated behind enemy lines to secure or destroy bridges used by the Axis during World War II. Roughly only half of that platoon would return unharmed from their mission and the media would embellish their story casting the group as a bunch of savages that wore war paint, refused to wash, and earned each other’s respect through violence. In regards to the Suicide Squad, the original such group was quite a ways different.

Task Force X, better known as the Suicide Squad, was a quartet of specialists led by ace pilot Colonel Rick Flag and featured co-pilot and medic Karin Grace, physicist Jess Bright, and astronomer Dr. Evans. The group’s nickname derived from its members surviving tragedies where those that died urged each survivor to continue fighting in their stead. The concept was not an original one, similar premises used by Jack Kirby’s Challengers of the Unknown (which may have inspired the Fantastic Four) and later by the Doom Patrol. As comic books shifted toward Science Fiction around this time, the group generally dealt with extraordinary threats like giant monsters. The run of the group’s adventures would be brief at six issues before being resurrected and revamped to its modern take in the mid-1980s under the guidance of writer John Ostrander (the work he maybe best remembered for in his career). Following the Crisis on Infinite Earths, the world had changed where heroes were no longer widely trusted by the public, their activities outlawed by the authorities, and the heroes themselves were considerably less than each other’s best friends such as they were in the Golden and Silver Ages. As the superhero re-emerged in the modern time, so did the supervillain and government espionage official Amanda Waller reactivated the Suicide Squad, this time with its ranks composed of these villains.

Largely based out of Belle Reve Penitentiary for metahuman criminals in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana, the Squad was led by Rick Flag Jr. (son of the original group’s leader) and often included government “chaperones” in Nightshade, Nemesis, and Bronze Tiger with operatives like Deadshot, Captain Boomerang, and Count Vertigo (as many of the other villains to make rounds in the group wouldn’t survive their missions). The criminal members of the group would be kept in line by being implanted with explosives that would be detonated for disobeying orders or trying to escape. Likely the breakout star of the series would be Deadshot who Ostrander fleshed out from an obscure character with a handful of appearances facing off with Batman across almost four decades to a tragic character wracked with guilt over his past which emerged in a death wish. The series would be a surprise hit, creating almost its own imprint as titles like Checkmate!, Manhunter, Captain Atom, and Peacemaker emerged closely tied to Suicide Squad as Firestorm would largely be folded in and these titles would even have their own crossover in “The Janus Directive.” Competitor Marvel Comics put out a similar concept with the Freedom Force some time before the revamped Suicide Squad to less stellar results.

As the world became more dangerous for mutants, X-Men foe Mystique decided to enlist her Brotherhood of Evil Mutants in service of the US government in exchange for pardoning their crimes and protection from the authorities for being mutants. The group would go on to add various new members, notably the trio of World War II veterans in Crimson Commando, Stonewall, and Super Sabre. A somewhat similar group emerged in the Spider-Man comics with the Outlaws under benevolent mercenary Silver Sable. The government-sponsored supervillain concept would be revisited later during the event Civil War in the Thunderbolts. Originally a ploy by the anti-Avengers group called the Masters of Evil to supplant the Avengers when they disappeared, the Thunderbolts was a disguise to earn the public’s trust in order to hide in plain sight towards villainous goals. However, treated with respect as heroes, its members had a change of heart and decided to abandon their evil ways. During Civil War, the Thunderbolts instead became an army of supervillains used to recruit more villains and capture anti-registration heroes. Notable villains like Green Goblin, Venom/Scorpion, and Bullseye made up the core group brutally hunting the likes of Spider-Man and Captain America for their government masters. Civil War is one of the stories set to be adapted for screen by Marvel Studios though at this time it’s unknown if the Thunderbolts will play a part.

John Ostrander would helm the Suicide Squad title for five years across close to seventy issues before the book met its end. However, the concept simply refused to die. The group popped up here and there, taking a somewhat more significant turn during the “Our Worlds at War” event as a clandestine spear wielded by Lex Luthor, President of the United States at the time. Likely this exposure set-up the return of the title, however with a somewhat humorous spin its resurrection became short-lived. Following this, Task Force X would transition to the small screen for an episode of the animated series Justice League Unlimited (this team including Deadshot and Captain Boomerang). In the comics, the group yet again became something that popped up from time to time but another very Suicide Squad-esque team would emerge in the events leading up to the event Infinite Crisis. Therein, a union of Earth’s supervillains is formed with a distinct “no scabs” rule, meaning everyone was a member or they would become a target for extermination. Despite this sentiment, several villains nonetheless decided to refuse to join the so-called Society, becoming instead the Secret Six.

Originally, the Secret Six was a small group of covert operatives created during the Silver Age in a seven issue series. The team would be re-branded twenty years later as cybernetically enhanced agents. This brand new and improved Secret Six fared even worse than its predecessor, lasting two arcs as a back-up story in Action Comics. Fan favorite writer Gail Simone would reactivate the group in the pages of Villains United joining together Deadshot, Catman, Scandal Savage, Cheshire, Rag Doll, and a Parademon. The group proved popular enough to get its own mini-series, Batman villain Mad Hatter and Female Fury Knockout replacing the traitorous Cheshire and deceased Parademon. Following this, the group emerged in Simone’s highest profile ongoing series Birds of Prey with Harley Quinn subbing in for the Hatter. Around the time the stage was being set for the Secret Six, so was the return of Checkmate with Amanda Waller as a notable character who again employed her Suicide Squad. Leading into the event Final Crisis, Waller regained Deadshot and re-teamed him with Rick Flag, Nightshade, Bronze Tiger, Captain Boomerang, and Count Vertigo as well as new recruits like Bane and Plastique to capture Earth’s villains and send them to a prison planet. Inevitably, she would betray Deadshot and Bane, sending them to the planet as well for the limited series Salvation Run. John Ostrander would return for a Suicide Squad miniseries detailing some of the events between the Squad’s reappearance in Checkmate and up to Salvation Run.

Deadshot and Bane would escape the prison planet, joining together as part of an ongoing Secret Six series by Gail Simone that ran for almost forty issues across three years, ending as the event Flashpoint rebooted the DC Universe. The group would transition through several members including Black Alice, King Shark, and Giganta as at one point two-thirds of the team quit when Catman sought vengeance for the death of his infant son (and John Ostrander would guest write or co-write several issues of the series). The Suicide Squad would continue to pop-up in several different titles and would return to the small screen, this time in live action, for the series Smallville (including Deadshot and Rick Flag). Following DC Comics’ reboot, a new Suicide Squad title emerged featuring Deadshot, Harley Quinn, and King Shark which led to New Suicide Squad as Deadshot and Harley were joined by Deathstroke, Black Manta, and Reverse-Flash.

Recently, the prominence of the group has been on the rise, emerging in the blockbuster Batman: Arkham video game universe first mentioned in the game Origins and then featured in a direct-to-video animated film Batman: Assault on Arkham (featuring Deadshot, Harley Quinn, and Captain Boomerang). The Suicide Squad went on to become part of the television series Arrow featuring Deadshot and Bronze Tiger (with a cameo by Harley Quinn). It is perhaps because of the response of the audience to these appearances and the desire to produce comic book-based blockbusters like Marvel Studios that a Suicide Squad film is being eyed for a 2016 release. Thus far, Harley Quinn has been cast for the movie (Margot Robbie of The Wolf of Wall Street) as rumor has it Deadshot and the Joker are set to appear. As for the comics, Gail Simone is set to return to the Secret Six this December including Catman and Black Alice.

]]>http://comicartcommunity.com/2014/11/suicide-squad/feed/0READING LIST: Harlan Ellison’s Greatest (Comic Book) Hitshttp://comicartcommunity.com/2014/11/reading-list-harlan-ellisons-greatest-comic-book-hits/
http://comicartcommunity.com/2014/11/reading-list-harlan-ellisons-greatest-comic-book-hits/#commentsFri, 21 Nov 2014 07:03:47 +0000http://comicartcommunity.com/?p=4687Harlan Ellison has written short stories, essays, teleplays, screenplays and books, but though he’s repeatedly talked about how influential the medium was for him as a boy, he has scripted relatively few comics. His enthusiasm and interest in the medium has never waned, however, and he’s taken time to praise the work of many books […]

Harlan Ellison has written short stories, essays, teleplays, screenplays and books, but though he’s repeatedly talked about how influential the medium was for him as a boy, he has scripted relatively few comics. His enthusiasm and interest in the medium has never waned, however, and he’s taken time to praise the work of many books and creators over the years — in between winning almost every science fiction, fantasy, mystery, horror and screenwriting award possible, that is.
This week saw the rare comic book publication of an Ellison story with the release of DC Comics‘ “Batman ’66: The Lost Episode.” When the Adam West-starring series was on the air in the mid-’60s, Ellison wrote an outline for an episode that would have introduced Two-Face to the hit show’s rogues gallery. The episode was never produced, but nearly 50 years later, the story has been brought to life in a comic scripted by Len Wein and penciled by Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez. That Garcia-Lopez is drawing the book is fitting, considering that five years ago the legendary artist penciled a “Batman Confidential” story arc which introduced the character King Tut from the TV show into the DCU.

In celebration of Ellison’s latest contribution to comics, we’re taking a look back at his previous forays into the medium. While the following list does not include every comic Ellison worked on or appeared in, it does represent what is arguably his most significant and best remembered four-color work, though unfortunately not all of them remain in print.

Ellison suffered a stroke recently and his fans all hope he has a speedy recovery. And when he feels back to old self again — we can’t wait for the next story he’ll write.

A two-part tale featuring a story from Ellison, adapted by Roy Thomas. The story starts with “The Summons of Psyklop,” where the Avengers capture the Hulk at the request of the army and end up fighting a villain who shrinks the Hulk to microscopic size, leading directly into the second chapter. The “Hulk” issue was titled “The Brute… That Shouted Love… At the Heart of the Atom,” a shout-out to one of Ellison’s most famous stories, and featured the first appearance of fan-favorite character Jarella. In a very unusual move, Ellison was actually credited on the cover of both issues — in a way most writers today would envy!

“The Night of Thanks But No Thanks”

A Batman story penciled by Gene Colan in “Detective Comics” #567 in 1986. Ellison had promised Julie Schwartz that he would write a Batman story, which Ellison admitted he’d made 15 years earlier. It was the last issue edited by Len Wein before Denny O’Neill took over the Bat-books, and it was the last issue before the Bat-books entered post-Crisis continuity.

“Demon with a Glass Hand”

Originally an episode of “The Outer Limits” (one of the series’ best, for which Ellison won a Writers Guild Award), this adaptation was illustrated by Marshall Rogers and published by DC as part of their short-lived Science Fiction Graphic Novel series, a line of books edited by the late Julie Schwartz, in the mid-’80s.

“Night and the Enemy”

The graphic novel collected a number of stories written by Ellison that appeared in “Epic Illustrated,” all in collaboration with artist Ken Steacy. The tales include including “Sleeping Dogs,” Life Hutch” and “Run for the Stars;” all stories that are set in the same universe as “Demon with a Glass Hand.”

“Phoenix Without Ashes”

IDW Publishing released this book in 2013, adapting Ellison’s original teleplay for the pilot of “The Starlost,” a short-lived television series. Ellison took his name off the production over the many changes made to his script and got the last laugh: The series lasted less than a season, and Ellison won a Writers Guild Award for the original draft of the movie, before it was changed during production.

“The City on the Edge of Forever”

Scott Tipton, David Tipton and JK Woodward have been adapting Ellison’s episode of the original “Star Trek” series into a miniseries at IDW. The Tiptons have won a lot of fans for their “Star Trek” comics, and here they retell Ellison’s story about a doomed love affair and the risk of changing the past. It’s one of the best episodes of a legendary TV show, winning both the Hugo Award and a Writers Guild Award and staying with tens of thousands of fans for years — decades — after they first watched it.

“7 Against Chaos”

A recent graphic novel with art by Paul Chadwick and Ken Steacy, the book is a crazy Ellison take on “Seven Samurai,” as seven individuals try to prevent the breakdown of reality. It owes something to classic science fiction stories and the classic science fiction comics, but it’s also a great tale about tolerance and possibility, presented by way of a group of hated outcasts who are the only hope for humanity’s survival.

“Vic and Blood”

One of Ellison’s most significant comics works, the comic, featuring artwork by Richard Corben — a sci-fi legend in his own right — was based on Ellison’s acclaimed short story “A Boy and His Dog,” which was made into a 1975 film. The story of a young boy and his telepathic dog surviving a post-apocalyptic world, the original short story has been expanded with two related tales, both of which are part of the graphic novel. Ellison has promised to expand the stories into a longer novel, but so far the graphic novel — featuring some of Corben’s best artwork — is the most complete edition of this story cycle available.

“Harlan Ellison’s Dream Corridor.”

An anthology series published by Dark Horse in the ’90s, “Dream Corridor” featured an all-star lineup of writers and artists adapting a variety of Ellison’s work, including classic tales and a number a number of stories Ellison wrote just for the series. If that doesn’t make the comic sound interesting enough, it also features artwork from Curt Swan, Gene Colan, Doug Wildey, Eric Shanower, Gene Ha, Steve Rude, Gary Gianni, Neal Adams, Richard Corben, Paul Chadwick, Michael T. Gilbert and Phil Foglio — to name just a few of the people who worked on the series.

]]>http://comicartcommunity.com/2014/11/reading-list-harlan-ellisons-greatest-comic-book-hits/feed/0Greg Finley’s Girder Attempts to Terminate The CW’s “Flash”http://comicartcommunity.com/2014/11/greg-finleys-girder-attempts-terminate-cws-flash/
http://comicartcommunity.com/2014/11/greg-finleys-girder-attempts-terminate-cws-flash/#commentsWed, 19 Nov 2014 05:22:41 +0000http://comicartcommunity.com/?p=4588Source: Greg Finley’s Girder Attempts to Terminate The CW’s “Flash” The next episode of The CW’s DC Comics hit is titled “The Flash Is Born,” and looking at the villain of the piece, it may be a fiery genesis. Debuting on tonight’s installment is Girder — a villain made of steel created in the comics […]

The next episode of The CW’s DC Comics hit is titled “The Flash Is Born,” and looking at the villain of the piece, it may be a fiery genesis.

Debuting on tonight’s installment is Girder — a villain made of steel created in the comics by the show’s executive producer Geoff Johns and artist Ethan Van Sciver. While the four-color Girder was a steel mill worker warped into metal by STAR Labs, the TV version is a former bully to Barry Allen who’s the latest metahuman to pick up a power and a taste for the dark side.

A veteran of The CW’s sci-fi series “Starcrossed,” Greg Finley will appear in two episodes of “The Flash” as the metallic evil-doer. Ahead of his debut, the actor spoke with CBR about what he’s bringing from Johns’ comics to the screen, how he fit into the Flash’s rapidly approaching long game and how his fights tap into the essence of film classic “T2.”

CBR News: While Girder isn’t one of the oldest or best known Flash villains, he is the creation of series executive producer Geoff Johns. Did you get the impression that this was a villain the creators had a soft spot for?

Finley’s Girder is set to appear on at least two episodes of “The Flash”

Greg Finley: I did, actually. They were really excited about the character and really cool about me coming onto the show. They told me how they wanted him to be this animal — this beast. The direction for me on every take was, “More, more, more!” As an actor, you don’t want to overact, and you try to have some containment, but they just said, “We want you screaming and angry!” It felt like there was a lot of excitement around him, which felt great.

This take on the character is unique to the circumstances of the “Flash” TV show. What do you think drives him?

When I found out I had booked the role, I Googled Girder and did as much research as I could. He came out in 2001, and he really was just a bully. He’s not the best dude. He’s angry, and he hates the Flash. He hates Barry and wants to cause havoc in Central City. It’s a pretty simple role. It’s like the Joker. He just wants to mess things up.

And here, he’s cast as a school bully of Barry’s, right?

Yeah. There are some cool flashback scenes, and he’s been the bully since elementary school.

From the look of it, that high school idea hits pretty hard with a “rough him up against the lockers” fight coming. Was it fun to make the rivalry that literal?

Oh man, wait until you guys see that scene. The stunt guys and stunt coordinators did an amazing job, and the CGI is awesome. We worked late nights to get that done, and it was a lot of hours. But we knew it was going to be pretty badass when it came out.

Action and effects wise, “The Flash” has been a pretty ambitious show with how they test Barry’s speed over big set pieces. The effects on Girder remind me of the villain in “T2.”

[Laughs] Yeah, my buddies were joking when the preview came out, “Dude! You look like the T-1000!”

Does this episode have a similar unstoppable force chase scene vibe to it?

It was cool because, like I said, Girder has a simple mindset. It’s like, “Hulk Smash!” He just wants to hurt things and tear through them. It’s fun to play a beast. It’s simple, but it’s great.

This isn’t just a one-off appearance — you’ll be around at least for two episodes. What can you say about what you get to do with the character since you’re playing him for more than a one-shot episode?

There is more than one episode, and I’m not sure with the whole metahuman angle how many episodes I’ll end up being in. But we will see a little bit of redemption for all the bad he’s done. I think the audience will be thinking that was cool.

“The Flash” has been a big hit for The CW, and you’re coming on right as it’s finding its voice and ramping up for a crossover with “Arrow.” What was it like to be coming into this whole enterprise right when it’s taking off?

You’re always a little bit nervous to be the new guy, and I know what it’s like to be a series regular. You always want to treat the guest stars like they’re part of the family as well, and that’s just what they did. Grant being the ringleader was so cool and he’s such a sweet guy. Candice and Tom and Danielle — everybody was so cool. They were very excited to have me on the show, and that made me want to do a better job. They have something special there, they really do.

Comic book superheroes are the hottest thing right now, on TV and on the big screen, and you’ve certainly got the build to keep playing characters in that world. Do you have anything more you’d like to do there?

Of course! I’m in the DC family now, and who knows what tomorrow is going to bring! I feel that the way my career has gone, I did a show, and after it I wanted to play some more gritty roles. So I hit the gym hard, and after that I got a different look than a lot of actors out here. In my old CW show, “Starcrossed,” I got to play a badass with muscles, but he had some depth and substance as well. I want to play these tough roles, but with a real character arc. I love the way things are going right now.

From Comic Book Resources RSS
[SPOILER ALERT: The following article contains spoilers for “The Legendary Star-Lord” #5, on sale now.]

While Marvel Comics'”Guardians of the Galaxy & X-Men: The Black Vortex” crossover is still a ways off, the event’s architect, Sam Humphries, is already laying groundwork in his series “The Legendary Star-Lord.” Alongside artist Paco Medina, Humphries introduced a number of new elements for “The Black Vortex” event in “Legendary Star-Lord” #5, including the revelation that The Black Vortex is actually an object, as well as a new set of villains known as the Slaughter Squad: Mister Knife’s elite group of agents who are a darker version of the Guardians of the Galaxy.

To shed some light on the reveal of the actual Black Vortex in “Legendary Star-Lord” #5, Humphries spoke with CBR News, discussing the power of the actual object, how it’s managed to stay hidden for so many years, the importance of Mister Knife and the Slaughter Squad, Peter Quill and Kitty Pryde’s relationship and much more.

Plus, be sure to check out our exclusive first look at Ed McGuinness’ cover for “The Black Vortex: Alpha” #1.

CBR News: Sam, The Black Vortex item gets introduced in “Legendary Star-Lord” #5, which is a clear lead-in to your big Marvel event of the same name. Obviously, there’s still a lot of mystery surrounding the object, but what more can you actually say about the item now that it’s out there?

Sam Humphries: Well, we had to be a little reticent over what we could reveal at New York Comic Con, but now, we can confirm a lot of things that people have been asking me about. One of them is that the Black Vortex is an actual object — it’s not a belief or a metaphor, or anything like that. The Black Vortex is an ancient artifact, very much like what we could consider to be a mirror. It’s a mirror that reflects literally what is standing in front of it, but what you see when you look into it is your full cosmic potential in life. For example, if you were to accept the bargain of the Black Vortex, you would not just be an awesome guitar player — you would be as good as Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page and George Harrison combined. Or if you’re a basketball player, it’s not just that you could dunk a lot, you could beat the entire Dream Team singlehandedly, one hundred games in a row. Your abilities would be so far beyond what we see on Earth.

So, if you extrapolate that to the powers of a superhero, they’re not just a superhero anymore. They’re cosmic level superheroes. If there’s a superpowered bad guy involved — and there are quite a few — all of a sudden, these are villains who may be impossible to stop. There’s no limit on the Black Vortex. If it gets in the wrong hands, you could apply it to one person, a whole team, a whole planet.

It seems like The Black Vortex is one of the most powerful artifacts in the entire Marvel Universe. How has it flown under the radar for this long?

People are afraid of it. People are afraid to use it, to talk about it. When people get ahold of it, if they’re altruistic and believe it should be hidden away, they definitely don’t want anyone to know that they have it, because it becomes a target that many people in the galaxy would go to any lengths to obtain. We saw that in issue #5 with the Slaughter Squad coming in and slaughtering all the Kymellians just to get their hands on this object, with only an inkling of what it could do for them.

This is an artifact that’s existed almost as long as the universe itself. The first pages of “Black Vortex: Alpha,” which I’m writing and Ed McGuinness is drawing, takes place 10 billion years ago and you see the Black Vortex, who created it and why. You also see the first person to become cosmically enhanced by the Black Vortex and what that did to them, and what that did to their planet.

You lay a lot of groundwork for Mister Knife and the Slaughter Squad’s role in “The Black Vortex.” How important will the Squad’s role be moving forward?

They’re absolutely going to be in “The Black Vortex” event in a big way. As we say in issue #5, they are Mister Knife’s hatchet squad. They’re his enforcers, his cosmic A-Team. Kind of like the Guardians of the Galaxy, it’s made up of various alien races — some of them are very old, obscure Marvel characters that have been seen before, but not very often. Some of them are brand new. They do have a part to play in pretty much every issue of “Legendary Star-Lord” leading up to “The Black Vortex,” and then they’re going to be a huge part of the event. They’re going to clash directly with the Guardians of the Galaxy and the X-Men.

In many ways, the Squad seems to be a darker version of the Guardians of the Galaxy. Should readers be drawing certain parallels between the two groups?

In “Legendary Star-Lord” #5, The Black Vortext itself was revealed — and it’s one of the Marvel U’s most powerful and dangerous objects

I don’t know if readers should be drawing one-to-one parallels. Certainly, there are some similarities between characters, but the main takeaway is that they’re a twisted mirror version of the Guardians. We’ve seen the Guardians do so many amazing things as protectors of the galaxy. We’ve seen how powerful they are, but also how heroic they are. What would happen if you took that heroism away and replaced it with desperation and avarice and bloodlust. That’s exactly what the Slaughter Squad is.

Mister Knife actually shoots a member of the Slaughter Squad in the head before he’s able to realize his cosmic destiny. What’s Mister Knife’s motivation behind wanting to acquire the artifact? Is it something he’s hoping to use himself?

Well, that is a great question, and there’s a great answer — but I can’t give it to you! [Laughs] That would reveal too much of the plan — but rest assured that Mister Knife does have a plan for the Black Vortex, and it’s not just to take it for himself to become a badass cosmic being. Mister Knife thinks very big, and he has a past that informs how big he thinks. The Black Vortex can show any individual its cosmic potential, but some people just see themselves in it. Mister Knife sees something much bigger. He sees it as a key to something bigger and larger for himself. He’s not enamored with what the Black Vortex can show him, he’s enamored with what it can do for him.

The tether between the Guardians and the X-Men is certainly apparent given Peter Quill’s communication with Kitty Pryde. How will their relationship inform how the Guardians and the X-Men interact as you continue to lead in to “The Black Vortex” event?

In many ways, they are the center of “The Black Vortex.” They’re the characters that bring the two teams together. We’ve got a lot of great Peter and Kitty stuff coming up in between now and “The Black Vortex.” Issue #6 is going to be a date between Peter and Kitty Pryde that’s going to be interfered with by the Slaughter Squad. in Issue #7, we have Kitty coming to the rescue. In issue #8, we have Peter “popping the question,” which I am putting in air quotes, and issue #9 is straight into “The Black Vortex.” We’re going to see them getting closer and closer in the next few issues and figuring out if they have the potential to be in a relationship together. “The Black Vortex” is going to come along and throw all of that into chaos for them.

This might be a reach, but The Black Vortex reminded me a lot of the Siege Perilous. Any parallels that can be drawn there at all?

No, not essentially. You’re not far off, they’re both similarly sized — the Siege Perilous isn’t a mirror, it’s a portal. I think that the major distinction to draw between the Siege Perilous and The Black Vortex is that the Siege Perilous was a door or a portal to a new life, to a blank slate. The Black Vortex is not. The Black Vortex is very much in the moment, but it changes you. The circumstances stay the same. If you’re stuck in a moment of desperation, the Black Vortex may look like a very attractive answer, depending on how desperate the situation is. What happens with the Black Vortex and the question of the Black Vortex — whether or not these characters will embrace their cosmic potential — will have a lot of long-term consequences for a lot of the Guardians and X-Men characters in this book. This is not an artifact that spirits them away to a new life; this is an artifact that changes who you are in the immediate present and changes your future — changes everything about you. But you still have to cope with and deal with the circumstances that you’re in.

You’ve mentioned in the past that other characters will show up during the course of “The Black Vortex.” How will the Slaughter Squad and Mister Knife’s uncovering of the artifact on Kymellia III bring some of those other characters out of the woodwork?

EXCLUSIVE: Inks for McGuinness’ “Black Vortex: Alpha” cover

Again, there’s a great answer to this — but not something I can elaborate on! But I will say that there’s a face on the cover that we haven’t revealed as being part of the event yet — a character who is not a part of the Guardians of the Galaxy, but is in the “Guardians of the Galaxy” movie. I think fans are going to be really excited about what he does in “The Black Vortex” event.

You’ve been working with Paco Medina for “Legendary Star-Lord” and you’re working with Ed McGuinness for “The Black Vortex: Alpha” and “Omega,” and their styles certainly gel well together. When you were writing the “Alpha” and “Omega” scripts, was there any particular sequences you were excited to put in there for Ed?

Yeah, absolutely. Paco has really redefined Star-Lord with his visual sense — his flair for the cosmic, but also his talent for bringing up characters’ emotions and facial expressions. That’s something that I’ve been leaning into a lot with his relationship with Kitty Pryde. We’re just putting issue #6 to press this week — the Kitty date issue — and he just knocks it out of the park so much. Paco also designed the Black Vortex and did such a great job making it look like this sinister, ambiguous power.

With Ed coming on board for “The Black Vortex: Alpha” and “Omega,” it just opened up the possibilities so much. I knew that I wanted to show the Marvel Universe 10 billion years ago with Ed, and I knew he would do such a good job with so many characters thrown together, as you see on that cover. I wanted to have Ed draw some huge, massive cosmic battles with some insanely cosmically enhanced people and aliens. That’s the kind of stuff you’re going to see all throughout “The Black Vortex” event.

]]>http://comicartcommunity.com/2014/11/shedding-light-guardians-galaxy-x-men-black-vortex/feed/0Captain America – Recruiting for a Civil Warhttp://comicartcommunity.com/2014/11/captain-america-civil-war/
http://comicartcommunity.com/2014/11/captain-america-civil-war/#commentsSun, 02 Nov 2014 07:32:19 +0000http://comicartcommunity.com/?p=3897It's challenging to distinguish what out of all of this news and rumors has the most buzz, but perhaps the most inquired aspect of this information is the details of the announced Captain America: Civil War. Thus far, we know elements of the Civil War crossover will be adapted putting Captain America and Iron Man at odds while Black Panther will make his first appearance in costume in the film. However, the question several fans have posed is if there exists enough established characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to support such an ambitious project.

Recently Marvel Studios announced films slated for its third phase including solo movies for Doctor Strange, Black Panther, and Captain Marvel (featuring former Ms. Marvel Carol Danvers). Aligning with this news is the release of a trailer and sneak peek for the upcoming Avengers: Age of Ultron which, rumor has it, will feature a new team of Avengers to rise from its finale. It’s challenging to distinguish what out of all of this news and rumors has the most buzz, but perhaps the most inquired aspect of this information is the details of the announced Captain America: Civil War. Thus far, we know elements of the Civil War crossover will be adapted putting Captain America and Iron Man at odds while Black Panther will make his first appearance in costume in the film. However, the question several fans have posed is if there exists enough established characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to support such an ambitious project.

Drawing some parallels to Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice in that the film is being marketed as a Batman movie featuring Superman and guest-starring the Justice League, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has prided itself on building its films around characters nurtured across its several projects. In other words, while the Batman film maybe introducing several characters to be branched out into various franchises, Captain America: Civil War is expected to largely play with pieces already introduced or announced prior. If such is the case, at first glance the heroes likely to emerge would largely be drawn from Age of Ultron with the aforementioned Captain America and Iron Man as well as Nick Fury, Hulk, Black Widow, War Machine, Thor, Hawkeye, Maria Hill, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, and the Vision. There is, of course, also Black Panther where it’s likely Falcon, Winter Soldier, and Agent 13 will emerge with good odds on Ant-Man (and perhaps the Wasp) and maybe even the aforementioned Doctor Strange and Captain Marvel (though this seems somewhat unlikely as these franchises likely will be steeped in magic and space, respectively) to appear. However, an element that shouldn’t be neglected is Marvel’s non-movie live action productions.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. spun directly out of the films and drives alongside them. It would then make sense that at some level it could also then feed more directly into the greater Cinematic Universe. Meaning, it wouldn’t be unheard of that Phil Coulson and his team (including the newly introduced Mockingbird) could play a part, especially considering Coulson’s hero worship of Captain America (and relationship to Nick Fury, who aligned with the Captain in the comics). But even more than that, the television series’ platform allows it the greater serial nature to plant seeds that could grow in Civil War. Characters like Cloak & Dagger, Spectrum, and Tigra, for example, could rather easily be established while others like Deathlok could be further developed in time for the movie. Arguably even greater than this is the Defenders on Netflix. With series focusing on Daredevil, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and Jessica Jones, there’s a very real possibility the likes of the Daughters of the Dragon, Moon Knight, Echo, and perhaps even the Punisher could appear which would be ripe for Civil War. As an aside, the rumor mill even has it talks are in play for Marvel Studios to use Spider-Man in its films.

If there is at least one element of the various non-movie series that could play out more so than anything else, it could be in members of a possible Thunderbolts team. Re-imagined in the comics mashing up the Freedom Force concept with the Masters of Evil masquerading as the heroic Thunderbolts, too many of the film villains have sadly been killed off for such a team to work. There are those like the Abomination, Leader, Batroc, and Crossbones from the movies, while Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has thus far offered up Graviton, Blizzard, Blackout, Absorbing Man, and Whiplash. Through Marvel Studios’ non-movie live action productions, the likes of Songbird, Taskmaster, Bullseye, and Radioactive Man could be established to make way for addition in the Thunderbolts.

]]>http://comicartcommunity.com/2014/11/captain-america-civil-war/feed/0Wonder Woman ’77: From Screen to Pagehttp://comicartcommunity.com/2014/10/wonder-woman-77-screen-page/
http://comicartcommunity.com/2014/10/wonder-woman-77-screen-page/#commentsTue, 14 Oct 2014 04:57:52 +0000http://comicartcommunity.com/?p=3795At the New York Comic Con, it was revealed a series was being developed by DC Comics based on the Wonder Woman television series that aired from 1975 to 1979 called Wonder Woman '77.

At the New York Comic Con, it was revealed a series was being developed by DC Comics based on the Wonder Woman television series that aired from 1975 to 1979 called Wonder Woman ’77. Undoubtedly in the same vein as Batman ’66 (based on the Batman television series that aired from 1966 to 1968), the series will be written by Marc Andreyko (Manhunter, Batwoman) with covers by Nicola Scott (Birds of Prey, Secret Six) and rotating interior artists that is set to premier digitally first in December before coming to print in early 2015. All that is known at present about the series (beyond it will be set in the same world as the TV series using the likeness of Lynda Carter) is that villains from the comics will emerge and down the line there maybe a crossover with Batman ’66 (which itself is coming off the heels of a crossover with Dynamite’s Green Hornet that ends in November). As yet, it’s unknown if the title of Wonder Woman ’77 is purely a play on the Batman ’66 title or if it will largely be based on the CBS years of the show which moved the story’s timeline from World War II to the then present day. Lets see what we may have to expect in the coming series.

SUPPORTING CAST

Already confirmed, in addition to the likeness of Lynda Carter having been obtained, permission for the likeness of Lyle Waggoner was also announced. Waggoner portrayed both Steve Trevor and Steve Trevor, Jr. (when the story jumped ahead into the 1970s, the actor remained on to portray his own son). In an interesting bit of trivia, Waggoner was the second choice of producers on the Batman TV series to play the titular character. Another likely character to appear would be Wonder Woman’s mother Hippolyta who in three seasons of the series was played by three actresses. In another odd connection to Batman, the second actress to play the Amazonian Queen was Carolyn Jones who was also the Batman villainess Marsha, Queen of Diamonds (though, undoubtedly she’s best remembered for her part as Morticia Addams in The Addams Family). Should the series focus on the CBS years of Wonder Woman, it’s likely Ira the IRAC computer, Rover, and Eve will also appear. Further, it could provide an opportunity to address unanswered questions that arose from the time jump, namely the fate of characters like Etta Candy, Diana’s sister Drusilla (who became Wonder Girl), and German Underground agent Fausta Grables. Again, if set in the ’70s, notable characters like IADC big wig Joe Atkinson, Hamlin Rule the Pied Piper, master thief Evan Robley, alien visitor Andros, bumbling admirer Harold Farnum, stranded alien Tina/Amadona, time traveler Adam, Pat the Leprechaun, and Bryce Candall the Man of Steel could emerge that would lend themselves well to the comic book format.

VILLAINS

Noted at the time of the announcement, the Wonder Woman TV series tended to focus on Nazis, gangsters, and scientists during its run, very rarely using any villains from the comics (Baroness Paula von Gunther and Fausta Grables being the only two). So, audiences were never treated to the likes of the Cheetah, Circe, Giganta, Mars and his agents (Duke of Deception, Earl of Greed, Count of Conquest, and Nubia), Doctor Psycho, Doctor Cyber, Angle Man, Minister Blizzard, or Villainy Inc. However, this isn’t to say that some foes she faced couldn’t be considered super-villains. In fact, the likes of super-gorilla Gargantua, ruler of Mariposalia Marion Mariposa, Cagliostro the Magician/Alchemist, memory thief Nick Moreno, ant-empowered Formicida, living brain Harlow Gault, and the unidentified alien impostor of Cameron Michaels could easily qualify and be adapted nicely to the printed page. There is also of course the Skrill, an alien race that rob the minds of intelligent beings across the universe, and their monstrous Zardor.

CROSSOVERS

Again, as noted, there’s a chance down the line that Wonder Woman ’77 could crossover with Batman ’66. An interesting bit of trivia in this is that the mind behind the 1966 Batman series wanted to strike while the iron was hot and similarly produce a Wonder Woman series. In test footage labeled “Who’s Afraid of Diana Prince?”, the series would’ve featured Diana Prince who was seemingly blessed with super powers and believed herself gorgeous when wearing her Wonder Woman costume (so far as seeing someone else in her mirror) despite her plain appearance. When Wonder Woman was eventually adapted for television, Batman writer Stanley Ralph Ross (who wrote a third of that show’s scripts and had a cameo as expert forger “Ballpoint” Baxter) was the man who produced the treatment for the series. Another interesting tidbit is that a live action Super Friends pair of specials called Legends of the Superheroes was produced (featuring Adam West, Burt Ward, and Frank Gorshin reprising their Batman characters) but Wonder Woman was unavailable due to the Lynda Carter series (Gorshin would appear on Wonder Woman as the villainous Hoffman, a toymaker who made robot duplicates of others including the titular heroine). Despite this, Giganta (played by A’leshia Brevard) was included among the Legion of Doom faced by the Justice League. As an aside, Superman was also off the table due to the film series that began in 1978.

THE FUTURE

Of course, just as Wonder Woman ’77 was announced, fans speculated what would come next. With Batman and Wonder Woman represented, the next logical choice would be Superman which could mean a Superman ’55 or Superman ’88 to follow the theme. If the former, that would mean the George Reeves Superman which began with 1951’s film Superman and the Mole Men leading into the television series Adventures of Superman which ran from 1952 to 1958, ending with Reeves’ apparent suicide. During this run, only Lex Luthor made the jump to live action in the 1950 film serial Atom Man vs. Superman. However, the more likely alternative would be Superman ’88 in terms of chronological progression (namely, ’66, ’77, ’88) as well as an aligning timeline: the Adam West Batman may have begun in 1966, but as noted he reemerged in 1979 with Legends of the Superheroes; Wonder Woman ran from 1975 to 1979; Christopher Reeve first appeared as Superman in 1978 and portrayed the character until 1987. In this vein, a Superman ’88 series could follow the events of Superman IV: The Quest for Peace where Superman destroyed Earth’s nuclear stockpile and defeated his greatest threat in the Nuclear Man. The 1980s Superman series provided Lex Luthor and the Phantom Zone prisoners General Zod, Ursa, and Non and would have lead to Brainiac had Richard Donner remained on for the third film. A version of Bizarro was intended as a failed Nuclear Man in the final film of the series but tested horribly with advanced screenings (leading to those scenes to be cut). Another possible series could be Superboy ’88, adapting the Superboy television series that ran from 1988 to 1992 and included the likes of Luthor, Mr. Mxyzptlk, Metallo, Bizarro, Yellow Peri, Nick Nack (essentially Toyman), and the Kryptonite Kid. Also, Shazam! ’77 based on the Shazam! TV series from 1974 to 1977, though this is an admitted stretch (a Flash ’99 would be only a slightly better bet, but not by much).

]]>http://comicartcommunity.com/2014/10/wonder-woman-77-screen-page/feed/3Top 10: Candidates for Titanshttp://comicartcommunity.com/2014/09/top-10-candidates-titans/
http://comicartcommunity.com/2014/09/top-10-candidates-titans/#commentsFri, 26 Sep 2014 05:32:20 +0000http://comicartcommunity.com/?p=3758Announced earlier in the month, a series based on the Teen Titans is in development at TNT called Titans. Set to star Nightwing, Starfire, Raven, and other young heroes, the possible new show joins an evergrowing list of DC Comics properties adapted for television.

Announced earlier in the month, a series based on the Teen Titans is in development at TNT called Titans. Set to star Nightwing, Starfire, Raven, and other young heroes, the possible new show joins an evergrowing list of DC Comics properties adapted for television including Arrow, Gotham, The Flash, Constantine, iZombie, and SuperGirl while Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is coming to theaters. While already put to rest that the film and television universe will not intersect, discussion has already begun about crossing over the world of Arrow and The Flash with other series (including among those involved with the shows) as the door is open for the aforementioned shows finding their way into the DC Television Universe. Bruno Heller of Gotham has commented a possibility for the show to crossover with Arrow/Flash and/or Constantine, Greg Berlanti of Arrow/Flash is producing SuperGirl, and Mark Pedowitz of the CW said there was room for Arrow/Flash and Titans to align (CW and TNT both owned by Time Warner), for example. So, the possibility is good the likes of Arsenal, Speedy, Firestorm, and Kid Flash (as well as villains like Deathstroke, Brother Blood, and Clock King) finding their way to Titans. Perhaps the only unlikely Titan to emerge would be Cyborg who’s reportedly tied to the films. Putting aside those named already and those tied up elsewhere that could emerge, lets look at some candidates for Titans we might see appear.

10. SUPERBOY

The clone of Superman and Lex Luthor, Superboy was intended to replace Superman should the hero fall in battle (while Luthor covertly planned to turn the imperfect duplicate into a weapon). Upon Superman’s believed demise at the hands of Doomsday, Superboy sprang onto the world eventually becoming a protege to the Man of Steel when the hero returned and a staple of the DC Universe in the Teen Titans. Taking the names Kon-El and Connor Kent, Superboy would be the best friend of Robin Tim Drake and boyfriend of Wonder Girl Cassie Sandsmark. What is in favor of Superboy appearing is that if Batman’s original sidekick Dick Grayson is set to star in Titans, it then stands to reason Superman’s protege Superboy would also emerge (as Supergirl is tied up in SuperGirl). However, what works against Superboy is it seems the series will be in the vein of the New Teen Titans years which predates the character, Starfire has very similar powers and abilities to the character, and there will already be a Supergirl series on TV by this time. So, while certainly a possibility, the concept would require jumping over several hurdles.

9. WONDER GIRL

A name affixed to several characters, the original Wonder Girl (a magical duplicate of a time-displaced teenage Wonder Woman) was a founding member of the Teen Titans and when the Titans were re-arranged in the New Teen Titans, Wonder Woman’s sister Donna Troy (who retroactively took her sibling’s place in continuity) was part of the new team. Years later, another Wonder Girl would emerge in Cassie Sandsmark who was the daughter of Zeus and a big fan of Wonder Woman. Going back to the same idea with Superboy, if the team is led by Batman’s protege Dick Grayson, it stands to reason he would be joined by the protege of Wonder Woman. Further, Donna Troy was part of the New Teen Titans which reinforces her inclusion. However, what works against her as with Superboy is the similarity in powers to Starfire (albeit Troy doesn’t shoot energy blasts) and should they go with Sandsmark, the character bears a striking resemblance to Supergirl (in looks and powers) but in a different costume.

8. STATIC

When two warring gangs and bystanders were doused with an experimental chemical in the city of Dakota during an event dubbed “the Big Bang,” Virgil Hawkins saw his life turned upside down when he developed the power to emit and control electricity. Considering many afflicted (the so-called “Bang Babies”) were gang affiliated, crime escalated in the city to a degree the police could not handle. Amidst this, Hawkins stepped up to become the hero Static and protected the innocent. While others like the Shadow Cabinet and Blood Syndicate joined the fight, Static stood high as a champion of the people and arguably its greatest hero despite his youth. While Static was probably the biggest character to come out of the Milestone imprint (that later folded into DC Comics), his popular animated series Static Shock made him a star. Since then, the character has emerged time and again including in the popular animated series Young Justice. Static would well compliment the characters in Titans as Nightwing was a boy raised under Batman/Bruce Wayne which meant a life of danger and excitement with wealth and opportunities, Starfire an alien princess who lived as a slave, and Raven the daughter of a Satan-esque character raised by pacifist monks, Static was a boy raised among challenging circumstances in an urban environment suddenly given immense power and chose to do right by that power. In other words, while the other three lived extraordinary lives, Static lived a somewhat ordinary inner city life before being thrust into the extraordinary which would add a new dimension to the dynamic.

7. MISS MARTIAN

A White Martian that survived the Martian Civil War, M’gann M’orzz came to Earth and pretended to be a Green Martian imitating the Martian Manhunter. In this way, she became Miss Martian and joined the Teen Titans in the events following Infinite Crisis. Despite this initial deception, the character became a cornerstone of the team. What works against Martian, as with Superboy and Wonder Girl, is the similarity in powers between her and Starfire made worse by the fact additionally both are aliens and both have an extraterrestrial skin color (though, of course, Martian can clear this up with her power to shapeshift). However, a way in which this was sidestepped was used in Young Justice where the character’s abilities went back to the roots of Martian Manhunter who employed shapeshifting and psionic powers before being made into something more of a revised Superman (essentially gaining all of Superman’s powers to those he already demonstrated). So, while a challenge, it’s something that’s not impossible (adding the depth that Miss Martian is also largely the last of her species drawing parallels to Superman).

6. TOYMAN

Hiro Okamura was a teenage technological prodigy from Japan who came into conflict with Superman when he tried to abduct the supervillain Metallo. Okamura’s grandfather had developed an alloy called metallo which was stolen and used to build the body of Superman’s cyborg adversary of the same name. Employing highly advanced tools that appeared like toys akin to two former Superman enemies both called Toyman, the name was affixed on Okamura however he would become an ally to Superman and Batman (such that when Batman’s mechanic/technician betrayed him, Okamura became his replacement) and later an honorary member of the Justice League and ally of the Teen Titans (becoming close friends with Robin and Superboy). It would later be revealed Okamura was perhaps an android built by the original Toyman. If Cyborg is unavailable for Titans, Toyman becomes a highly viable alternative as is often the case technological expertise has a way of becoming important in Sci-Fi heavy plots such that virtually every superhero who isn’t already tech-savvy has a supporting player that fills such a void.

5. JERICHO

The mute son of Slade Wilson, aka Deathstroke the Terminator, Joey Wilson had his throat slit by an enemy of his father at a young age resulting in his inability to speak. As he grew older, he would learn he was a mutant with the ability to enter other people’s bodies through their eyes and take control of them for a limited period of time. During this possession, Joey can use whatever powers and abilities they have as well as access their memories. Joining the Titans to combat his father and taking the name Jericho, Joey became extremely loyal to the group but his life would be one of suffering and pain. The essence of Trigon, Raven’s father, infected Jericho and possessed him leading to his father having to murder his son to spare his suffering. However, a corrupted Jericho entered his father’s body laying dormant for years before asserting dominance in a psychotic and malevolent manner. Their former teammate would later be cleansed and given a new body only to be forced to possess a powerful enemy of his friends for an unspecified period of time (weeks or perhaps months). Ultimately, the experience led to a dramatic breakdown which almost destroyed Jericho. Part of the New Teen Titans period, what would make Jericho unique for Titans would be his need to communicate with sign language. Heroes with physical difficulties to overcome are fairly rare so the inclusion of Jericho in the series could be a powerful symbol for the show.

4. BLUE BEETLE

An average kid growing up in El Paso, Texas, Jaime Reyes‘ life would change when a Scarab attached itself to his spine. An ancient tool used by the alien race the Reach to subvert and conquer worlds, the Scarab was suppose to turn its subject into a living weapon against its own native race. However, thousands of years prior, the Scarab was manipulated with magic in Egypt which damaged its programming giving it sentience. Instead, Reyes formed a partnership with the Scarab, which took the name Khaji Da, to protect the Earth and combat the Reach as the Blue Beetle. What makes Blue Beetle so interesting is that it’s a legacy character following two prior such men to carry the name and in a fashion is a teenage version of the Green Lantern. The Reach and the Guardians of the Universe are age-old enemies and while the Guardians formed the Green Lantern Corps and crafted Power Rings to create peace, the Reach made the Scarabs to empower Infiltrators towards conquest. By extension, Blue Beetle becomes an anti-Green Lantern on the side of the Corps. As for a dynamic in the team, Nightwing is a street-level character and field leader, Starfire is a super-powered juggernaut, and Raven a magically-endowed character, Blue Beetle is a technologically-enhanced hero which adds variety to the mix.

3. TERRA

An infiltrator hired by Deathstroke, Terra is the illegitimate daughter of the King of Markovia who inherited her family’s power to manipulate the earth. Terra joined the Teen Titans to uncover all of their secrets, including their identities, to be used against them by Slade. A sadistic, malicious mercenary, Terra would eventually sacrifice her life in an attempt to kill the Titans by burying them in earth. The story of Terra’s betrayal of the group is collectively known as “The Judas Contract” and is largely considered the penultimate Teen Titans story. To have a Titans series without Terra and “The Judas Contract” is largely inconceivable.

2. AQUALAD

The original Aqualad named simply Garth was Aquaman’s sidekick and a founder of the Teen Titans (later, becoming a sorcerer named Tempest). However, another Aqualad was created for the series Young Justice and introduced in the comics that is arguably more popular (at least today). Kaldur’ahm is the son of Black Manta, Aquaman’s ultimate nemesis, experimented upon as an infant by the people of Xebel, the race of Aquaman’s wife Mera, imparting onto him their ability to manipulate water. Raised in Silver City, New Mexico by adoptive parents as Jackson Hyde, the youth wouldn’t learn the truth of his origins until Xebel forces sought him out as a living key to their dimension in order to invade Earth. Kaldur would team with Aquaman, Mera, and Aquagirl to defeat his father and Mera’s people. It is likely he went on to join the Titans but DC Comics would reboot its continuity before this officially took place on panel. Undoubtedly the breakout character of Young Justice, Aqualad has the name recognition of Aquaman in his favor and whose ability to manipulate water and emit electricity makes him a versatile character (his “water bearer” tools are also impressive in that he can use them to manipulate water into things such as swords, maces, whips, axes, hammers, etc).

1. BEAST BOY

When the New Teen Titans was created, it was generally a blending of former Titans with new members yet scene by readers. Among the new faces included Starfire, Raven, and Cyborg but also something of an obscure character in Beast Boy. Perhaps best described a junior member of the Doom Patrol, a very young Beast Boy would grow up to join the Titans and take the name Changeling. When the Titans series was announced with Starfire and Raven, it heralded back to the New Teen Titans where fans generally saw Cyborg’s absence as something having to do with his being tied to the films but the absence of Beast Boy was something of a shock. Even in the Teen Titans animated series, the group was made up of Robin and the four new Titans of New Teen Titans including Beast Boy. In the comics, as Kid Flash transitioned into becoming a more serious character, Changeling took his place as the team’s trickster and lighthearted voice making his presence both distinct and important as the team faced grave challenges, many on the same scale as their elder mentors in the Justice League of America, where likely Changeling was what kept the group grounded and sane. It’s very likely Beast Boy will end up in the series where perhaps the only strike against him maybe his trademark green skin could be seen as a hassle to transition to live action.

]]>http://comicartcommunity.com/2014/09/top-10-candidates-titans/feed/0Review: Gotham TV Series “Pilot”http://comicartcommunity.com/2014/09/review-gotham-pilot/
http://comicartcommunity.com/2014/09/review-gotham-pilot/#commentsTue, 23 Sep 2014 16:29:06 +0000http://comicartcommunity.com/?p=3749In the new series Gotham, Detective James Gordon (Ben McKenzie) is tasked with solving the murder of wealthy socialites Thomas and Martha Wayne against the backdrop of perhaps the most corrupt city in modern history.

In the new series Gotham, Detective James Gordon (Ben McKenzie) is tasked with solving the murder of wealthy socialites Thomas and Martha Wayne against the backdrop of perhaps the most corrupt city in modern history. Of course, the series also provides a new version of the backstory of Batman (young Bruce Wayne portrayed by David Mazouz) introducing the evolution of the character’s creation while outlining the origins of his supporting cast. In the premier titled simply “Pilot,” the Waynes are killed and Gordon with corrupt partner Harvey Bullock (Donal Logue) are given the call to investigate. While a suspect is identified and killed by Bullock, it’s revealed to be a set-up and the real murderer remains at large and unknown amidst a mysterious conspiracy. It falls upon Gordon to continue to search in secret as he realizes he can’t trust any of his colleagues.

The premier is a bit of a glut trying to introduce as many Batman characters as possible without sidelining the main plot too heavily. A young Catwoman (Camren Bicondova) is a pickpocket and acrobat who witnessed the Waynes’ murder, Alfred Pennyworth (Sean Pertwee) is the Wayne’s butler who becomes Bruce’s caretaker, Renee Montoya (Victoria Cartagena) and Crispus Allen (Andrew Stewart-Jones) are cops within the Major Crimes Unit who believe Gordon is dirty and framed the murdered suspect, Sarah Essen (Zabryna Guevara) is the captain of the GCPD, Barbara Kean (Erin Richards) is Gordon’s fiance who may have a romantic past with Montoya, a young Riddler (Cory Michael Smith) is a technician from the CSI, Penguin (Robin Lord Taylor) was a stooge for Carmine Falcone’s (John Doman) lieutenant Fish Mooney (Jada Pinkett Smith), a young Poison Ivy (Clare Foley) re-imagined as instead Ivy Pepper is the daughter of the framed man murdered by Bullock, and a stand-up comedian was established as a likely misdirect for the Joker. As you can see, the episode established over a dozen regular or re-occurring characters which likely made up about half of its content. As for the story itself, it’s fairly simply and straight forward that an unknown entity had the Waynes killed, organized crime with corrupt police covered it up, and Gordon is a man adrift in rough waters without any real protection (or leads to go on at this point). In essence, it’s a starting point that established a lot of moving parts with the hint there’s more to come.

As a pilot, I’m conflicted about my thoughts on this introduction. Right now, it lacks substance and keeps repeating there’s more to come without giving you anything one way or the other about where it’s going. Obviously, the ongoing story is Gordon’s search for answers as he investigates a force that controls the mob (and by extension the police and politicians). But I would’ve liked something at least a little bit more than that where I have to wonder if it was pushed aside in favor of the multitude of Easter eggs for people wanting Batman mythos in the episode. It’s reminiscent of Birds of Prey in that it wanted to be its own work but seemingly Batman mythos was shoehorned in at the detriment of the narrative. A sense of this was felt when the series was originally announced that it was a mystery featuring Gordon set in Gotham that later was amended by an executive that announced it would feature Bruce Wayne’s ascension to the cowl. When the first trailer hit, many fans were left with something of a sense of dread to see that so many Batman characters were already set to appear (a sense perhaps realized in that those announced emerged in just the pilot alone). At this point, the series hasn’t hooked me yet and I hope we get more into the Wayne mystery and less into trying to get so many Batman characters on the screen as humanly possible (though, as it seems Scarecrow, Hugo Strange, Harvey Dent, and Mr. Freeze have been announced yet to come this season, it appears to be more of the latter).

]]>http://comicartcommunity.com/2014/09/review-gotham-pilot/feed/0The Flash: From Page to Screenhttp://comicartcommunity.com/2014/09/flash-page-to-screen/
http://comicartcommunity.com/2014/09/flash-page-to-screen/#commentsMon, 22 Sep 2014 16:55:38 +0000http://comicartcommunity.com/?p=3729With the series premier of the Arrow spin-off The Flash only weeks away, several of the upcoming guest-stars for the show have thus far been announced already. Just as one would expect, the Rogues make up a sizable chunk of the upcoming characters.

With the series premier of the Arrow spin-off The Flash only weeks away, several of the upcoming guest-stars for the show have thus far been announced already. Just as one would expect, the Rogues make up a sizable chunk of the upcoming characters. In the series Arrow, we’ve thus far met Barry Allen (played by Grant Gustin of Glee fame) who already has suffered his fateful accident that leads to his becoming the Flash. Fans have also been treated to upcoming series regulars Cisco Ramon (Carlos Valdes) and Caitlin Snow (Danielle Panabaker) who, in the comics, are fated to become the hero Vibe and villainess Killer Frost, respectively. The series will open with introducing S.T.A.R. Labs’ chief scientist Harrison Wells (Tom Cavanagh), whose particle accelerator transformed Allen, and on-line journalist Iris West (Candice Patton), mentioned only by name previously as a love interest to Allen. A demonstration of the forward thinking of the show’s producers Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg, West was cast with an African-American actress to align with DC Comics’ current continuity where the character’s nephew Wally was reintroduced as being African-American (Wally later becoming the Flash’s sidekick Kid Flash in the comics), paving the road for his inclusion in the series down the line. Before moving on to those others cast, it should be noted Rogues the Trickster and Pied Piper have been mentioned but yet confirmed. The former was named in an early script used for auditions and the latter as a series regular to be cast but likely was replaced by the Caitlin Snow character (though, producers have stated a desire to add Pied Piper within the first twelve to thirteen episodes). Further, Arrow villain the Clock King (Robert Knepper) is set to make an appearance on The Flash. The character of Firestorm was described in detail previously here.

REVERSE-FLASH

Undoubtedly the supreme nemesis to the Flash, the Reverse-Flash was originally a criminal in the future who through some circumstances obtained the Flash’s costume and was able to replicate his powers upon wearing it. Becoming Professor Zoom the Reverse-Flash, the man intended to use his newfound abilities to become history’s greatest criminal. However, a time traveling Flash arrived in the future and brought Zoom to justice. Later, this origin was changed in that the man was in fact a distant relative of Barry Allen named Eobard Thawne whose ancestor Malcolm Thawne was Barry’s brother. Another alteration would be that Thawne was an obsessed fan of the Flash who duplicated Allen’s accident to gain his powers and altered his appearance in order to be his idol’s twin image. Journeying back in time in order to meet his hero, Thawne arrived after Allen’s death and learned his fate of becoming the Flash’s nemesis, causing a mental breakdown that left Thawne believing he was in fact Barry Allen. The then Flash Wally West defeated Thawne and sent him back to his time, amnesiac of the experience but with a deep hatred of Allen. Regardless, Zoom proved to be a most dangerous adversary (especially considering he had all of the Flash’s powers and knew all of his secrets), most notably when it appeared he murdered Allen’s wife Iris West and later when he tried to kill Allen’s fiance Fiona Webb (leading to the Flash having to kill Zoom). Zoom would later be resurrected and he journeyed back in time to when Allen was a boy and killed his mother and framed his father for the crime.

In The Flash, Barry Allen started investigating strange occurrences because of the trauma he suffered as a child when he witnessed a streaking man in yellow surrounded in electricity murder his mother. As for the present, Barry Allen competes for the affections of Iris West with a detective by the name of “Pretty Boy” Eddie Thawne (Rick Gosnett). However, this is likely a misdirect especially considering the producers past with Arrow where fans expected Oliver Queen’s best friend Tommy Merlyn to become Merlyn the Archer and ex-girlfriend Laurel Lance to become the Black Canary. Instead, Tommy’s father ended up being the Dark Archer and Laurel’s sister Sara became the Canary (though signs point to Laurel possibly assuming this role later). Perhaps a more likely candidate could be Harrison Wells. Wheelchair-bound and a chief confidant of Allen, Wells is reminiscent of the character Hunter Zolomon who was a profiler for the FBI hobbled by a costumed criminal named the Clown and later made a paraplegic by Gorilla Grodd. He begged the Flash to go back in time and alter the past to stop Grodd but the hero refused citing possible damage to the time stream. Angered, Zolomon tried to use a time machine to do it himself only for the apparatus to blow up and grant not only the use of his legs again, but the power to alter time. Feeling the Flash needed to suffer a tragedy to make him a better hero, Zolomon became the villainous Zoom (adopting a variation of the Reverse-Flash’s costume) and murdered the hero’s unborn twins. The producers of Arrow also have something of a history merging elements of characters, like Brother Blood bearing similarities to Steel Claw and the Canary to Onyx, as Wells also has some qualities similar to Speed McGee/Speed Demon. Jerry McGee was a scientist for the company Genetech that developed a chemical called Steroid B-19 which granted super speed, strength, and stamina. Testing it on himself, he became dependent upon it leading to his wife Tina leaving him and moving in with the then Flash Wally West. Donning a yellow and purple skintight suit, Jerry became Speed McGee in order to stalk his wife (Tina would become a series regular on the original Flash TV show where its been announced the character will return to the current series played by the same actress in Amanda Pays).

WEATHER WIZARD

Mark Mardon was a criminal on his way to prison that managed to escape his guards and fled to his brother Clyde’s house. Therein, Clyde discovered a means to control weather which he managed to contain within a wand only to then die of a heart attack (retroactively, it was stated Mark killed him). Mark, armed with the wand, became the Weather Wizard and sought revenge against the men who brought him to justice. The Flash, however, stopped him and the Weather Wizard became a reoccurring enemy of the hero joining the infamous villain group the Rogues. Historically, Weather Wizard was the first Flash villain adapted for live action appearing in the two-part special Legends of the Superheroes. Further, Miguel Ferrer would portray the Weatherman in the ill-fated TV movie/pilot Justice League of America (Ferrer would go on to voice the Weather Wizard in Superman: The Animated Series later that same year). In The Flash series premier, the hero must face his first supervillain in Clyde Mardon (Chad Rook), one half of the thief duo the Mardon Brothers, who gains the power to control the weather and becomes the Weather Wizard.

SIMON STAGG

Ruthless businessman, brilliant scientist, and exceptionally wealthy, Simon Stagg was someone who had a dire need to possess things, perhaps nothing more so than his gorgeous daughter Sapphire. When she fell in love with an adventurer named Rex Mason in Stagg’s employ, the father arranged for Mason’s death while sending him to secure the ancient Egyptian artifact the Orb of Ra. However, bathed in the rays emitted by the Orb, Mason was transformed into the powerful and grotesque Metamorpho, the Element Man. When Mason tried to seek his revenge on Stagg, the Orb kept him at bay. An arrangement was reached such that Metamorpho would use his powers to help others while Stagg sought to find a cure to his affliction putting Sapphire in the middle of their conflict. Despite his appearance, Sapphire still loved Mason and this left Simon to concoct scheme after scheme to try and separate the two for good. In The Flash, chances are that the prominence of Firestorm, the Nuclear Man who has some similarities in a way to Metamorpho (Firestorm can change elements, Metamorpho can turn into any element) could mean Firestorm maybe used to supplant Metamorpho. Simon Stagg will be portrayed by William Sadler.

MULTIPLEX

Assistant to Martin Stein in the development of the Hudson Nuclear Power Plant, Dr. Danton Black tried to steal Stein’s plans for the facility only to be caught by his boss. Black was fired but not turned in to the police which the nefarious scientist used against Stein by going to the authorities claiming he designed the plant and Stein cut him out just prior to the facility being activated. Out of fear of the plant being decommissioned before being activated, Stein turned the plant on ahead of schedule. Unbeknownst to Stein, eco-terrorists placed a bomb in the facility which upon detonation along with the plant’s activation transformed Stein (and one of the youths who accompanied the terrorists in Ronnie Raymond) into the hero Firestorm, the Nuclear Man. Also caught in the blast was Black who returned to try and incriminate Stein turning instead into Firestorm’s first super-powered foe Multiplex who could create copies of himself he called duploids, in essence a one man army. In The Flash, Multiplex will be played by Michael Smith.

CAPTAIN COLD

Likely due to his prominence in the series Challenge of the Super Friends, Captain Cold is arguably the most recognized member of the Flash’s rogues gallery. In fact, when the 1990 Flash TV series was produced, Cold was one of only a handful of rogues adapted for the series alongside the likes of Mirror Master (played by David Cassidy whose daughter Katie went on to play Laurel Lance in Arrow) and a Joker-inspired Trickster (a role which helped actor Mark Hamill secure the part of the Joker in Batman: The Animated Series and a multitude of subsequent projects). In the comics, Cold was Len Snart, a man with little going his way that read in a newspaper that it was theorized a cyclotron could possibly stop the Flash. Believing if he could stop the Flash he could get whatever he wanted, Snart broke into a laboratory and by chance stumbles upon creating an ice ray gun. Taking the name Captain Cold and donning a visor and fur-lined parka, Snart fought and failed to best the Flash. Going on to join the Rogues, Cold would later be re-imagined as a brilliant strategist and indomitable leader to the Rogues turning what was already a highly dangerous crew of individuals into the premier supervillain team in the country. In The Flash, Captain Cold was cast with Wentworth Miller.

PLASTIQUE

A French Canadian terrorist, Bette Sans Souci attempted to suicide bomb a prominent New York newspaper only to be stopped and humiliated by Firestorm who decided to destroy her clothes, leaving her naked for the authorities to pick up. Imprisoned, Souci’s lawyer secured for her an experimental serum that gave her the power to project explosive power from her fingers as she took the name Plastique. Escaping alongside Killer Frost, Firestorm’s nemesis, the duo tried to cause more mayhem only to be stopped by Firestorm and his partner Firehawk. She would go on to become a foe of Captain Atom before the two eventually became a couple, Plastique reforming, being pardoned, and acted as a superhero aligned with Atom’s unsanctioned Justice League cell. The pair would marry only to later divorce and Plastique returned to her villainous ways. The character would be adapted for live action in 2008 for the television series Smallville. For The Flash, Plastique was a bomb disposal expert who gained the ability to turn anything she touched into an explosive and is sought by the United States to be used as a weapon. Unwilling, she goes on the run and crosses paths with the Flash. The character shares some similarities with Peek-a-Boo, a Flash character that can teleport (but in doing so leaves behind explosions) that tries to steal a kidney for her dying father and is almost forced to become a villain after being caught, and Human Bomb, a hero where everything he touched turned into a bomb. Plastique will be portrayed by Kelly Frye.

GIRDER

A more recent addition to Flash’s rogues gallery, Girder was Tony Woodward, a steelworker who assaulted a female coworker and was dunked into a vat of molten steel by a mob angered by his actions. Therein, metal experimented upon by S.T.A.R. Labs was included and Woodward emerged as the metal behemoth Girder. Super strong and durable, the steel began to rust immediately upon contact with the air giving him a dark orange sheen. Trying to use his newfound abilities as a supervillain, Flash brought him to justice only for the villain to later join a new iteration of the Rogues. Girder will be played by Greg Finley.

HEAT WAVE

When Captain Cold escaped prison and tried to perform a robbery, the Flash appeared and quickly took him down. Only, a new foe going by the name Heat Wave appeared attacking Flash and helped Cold flee. Back at Cold’s hideout, Heat Wave revealed he was a fire-eater that wanted to get into the supervillain game (wielding a pistol-sized flamethrower) and proposed a partnership to take out the Flash and turn the city into their personal piggy bank. It appeared a new dangerous alliance was formed until the duo realized they both pined for the same television celebrity which led to a brawl that attracted the attention of the Flash. While the pair turned their attention to the Scarlet Speedster, it wouldn’t help them as both were defeated. Subsequently, despite an adversarial relationship, they became steadfast allies. At one point, it appeared Heat Wave became a superhero only to later learn he was brainwashed by the Top (who himself was manipulated into becoming a hero). Heat Wave has been cast with Dominic Purcell (who, interestingly enough, played the brother of Wentworth Miller’s character in the series Prison Break, which also starred Robert Knepper who will reprise his character of the Clock King on The Flash and Peter Stormare who will be the new Count Vertigo on Arrow). In his premier episode, Heat Wave is set to team with Captain Cold.

CAPTAIN BOOMERANG

An Australian petty crook, “Digger” Harkness learned of the Wiggins Game company’s search for a mascot to market boomerangs to children and applied for the job in order to jump start a career as a supervillain named Captain Boomerang. Using trick boomerangs (in a similar fashion to how Green Arrow used trick arrows), Harkness would be stopped by the Flash and went on to help found the Rogues. The Captain would also garner some notoriety as a member of the government sanctioned Suicide Squad program working alongside other villains and government operatives in special operations with a low likelihood of survival in return for clemency (or an outright pardon). Interestingly enough, as The Flash is largely focusing on super-powered foes, Captain Boomerang (featuring Nick Tarabay as the character) is set to emerge on Arrow as a former agent of A.R.G.U.S. just as the Flash crosses over into the series.

GORILLA GRODD

Hidden from the world outside, Gorilla City is buried deep in the heart of Africa where a race of highly-evolved gorillas live. Advancing at a much higher rate than humanity, its apes developed technology making them absolutely invisible to outsiders as a culture of peace and prosperity arose. However, one among their ranks in Grodd was born with a desire to rule, a wish to dominate the will of his fellow gorillas and then to conquer the Earth. Solovar, who discovered the power to control the minds of others, was captured by humans and brought to America as a simple gorilla in a zoo. Grodd sought Solovar and used his mental powers to extract the secrets of mind control from his fellow ape, returning to Gorilla City and turning its denizens into a mighty army. It was through the intervention of the Flash and Solovar that defeated Grodd. While the malevolent super-gorilla would return repeatedly to try and rule Gorilla City, Grodd would also try to seek revenge on the Flash notably by forming the Rogues. While the Flash’s enemies enjoyed something of a loose fraternity among themselves, Grodd arranged their escape from prison and formed a formal organization to defeat the Flash founded with Captain Cold, Mirror Master, Top, Heat Wave, Captain Boomerang, and Pied Piper. The group would expand to incorporate the Trickster, Weather Wizard, Mr. Element/Dr. Alchemy, Abra Kadabra, Reverse-Flash, and Golden Glider before eventually becoming something of an expansive union of most of the Flash’s enemies. Thus far, Grodd has only been hinted at in an Easter egg in the pilot that executive producer Geoff Johns said was a sign of his future inclusion.

In the upcoming storyline “Legends” in the WWE Superstars series, wrestlers from across the thirty five year history of the WWF to today’s WWE will compete to tackle age old debates comparing legends of the past against modern day stars. From the minds of Mick Foley (multi-New York Times bestselling author and retired wrestler) and Shane Riches (R.P.M., Afflicted), the arc will feature such bouts as Jake “The Snake” Roberts vs. Randy Orton, Ultimate Warrior vs. John Cena, and Hulk Hogan vs. “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. However, matches already announced only scratch the surface of the dozens of high profile talent that have come through the WWE. Lets then take a look at some possible battles we could expect to see this Fall from Super Genius Comics.

10. “HACKSAW” JIM DUGGAN vs. MICK FOLEY

A champion amateur wrestler and multisport athlete, Jim Duggan became a star in Mid-South Wrestling where he feuded with superstar Butch Reed over the nickname “Hacksaw” and adopted his iconic 2×4 piece of lumber. Duggan made the jump to the WWF with the industry shaking event WrestleMania III and quickly became a fan favorite babyface (hero) who frequently came to the ring 2×4 in one hand and American flag in the other amidst chants of ‘USA! USA! USA!’ Sadly, Duggan didn’t seem like a typical contender for championships not being big enough to match the giants that dominated the ’80s or small and quick like the stars of the early ’90s so he wouldn’t start racking up titles until moving to WCW. However, the athlete’s charisma and enthusiasm made him a beloved fixture of the WWF, remembered for his brawling style in the ring and his comical presence outside endearing him to millions.

Growing up a fan of pro wrestling (present the fateful night in Madison Square Garden when Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka delivered his signature Superfly Splash to “Magnificent” Don Muraco from the top of a fifteen foot steel cage), Mick Foley was going to college when he made the decision to become a pro wrestler. Having had amateur wrestling in high school, Foley spent years on the indie circuit before ending up at WCW as the crazed heel (villain) Cactus Jack. Combating some of the promotion’s top talent, Jack’s popularity helped him transition to become a fan favorite babyface with one of the promotion’s most memorable feuds when he went to war against the monstrous Vader. During a cross-promotion with ECW, Jack ended up at the hardcore company eventually leaving WCW to work therein full-time. It was at ECW he caught the attention of the WWF who brought him to their company as the bizarre sadomasochistic Mankind. Visibly harming himself on air, Mankind brutalized his body in his matches taking bumps that undoubtedly shaved years off of his career. Coming to the company with a memorable feud with fan favorite the Undertaker, Foley would later adopt yet another identity in Dude Love (which he conceived for himself originally after seeing Snuka’s historic splash) in order to befriend the WWF’s biggest star “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. Foley would alternate between his three personas over the years, becoming Cactus Jack when he needed to deliver brutality, Mankind to survive taxing battles, and Dude Love for relative speed and high flying abilities. While Austin is often credited with winning the Monday Night War between the WWF and WCW, talent like the Rock and Mick Foley also supported the former’s gains. In fact, the night Foley won the WWF Championship, WCW repeatedly announced it live on the air (likely playing on the idea Foley wasn’t your typical idea of a champion, not big like a giant or muscular and edgy like Austin and the Rock) which backfired and saw WCW viewers turning the channel to witness the event. Foley would retire from wrestling a couple years later, becoming a multi-New York Times bestselling author producing several books based on his memoirs as well as children’s books. The author also began touring describing his often comedic stories in person to droves of his followers.

9. “MR. USA” TONY ATLAS vs. BROCK LESNAR

Tony Atlas was a man with few athletic parallel before ever entering the squared circle of pro wrestling. A championship amateur wrestler, bodybuilder, powerlifter, and arm wrestler, Atlas was scouted to come to pro wrestling and whose career shot up like a rocket. Traveling the various territories of the NWA, Atlas scooped up titles where ever he went eventually ending up at the WWF. Therein, Atlas teamed with Rocky Johnson (father of future superstar The Rock) to become the first African-American tag team to gain the championship belts. Just as the promotion was going to give Atlas a push for the Intercontinental belt, a burgeoning drug problem made the superstar a liability. As Atlas became less reliable, he was given less responsibility eventually driving Atlas to leave. The performer’s career languished for years, his drug habit almost ended up taking his life until a woman (who later became his wife) saved him and got him clean.

A storied championship amateur wrestler, Brock Lesnar transitioned to the WWF where he decimated the competition and within two years became the youngest undisputed WWE Champion. In fact, Lesnar wouldn’t suffer his first pinfall loss until he was defending the championship where he was betrayed by his then manager Paul Heyman. Despite the loss, Lesnar’s assault on the WWE and quest for the belt went on leaving his opponents in heaps at his feet. Largely, Lesnar’s razing of the roster wouldn’t come to an end until his bout with Bill Goldberg (a wrestler Lesnar was frequently compared to). The match was the last for both men at WWE as both wanted to move on to do other things, the fight ending with Goldberg scoring the victory. Lesnar went on to join the NFL but this would fall through and he embarked on an impressive career in the UFC as a mixed martial artist. After an eight year absence, Lesnar returned to the WWE only to lose to John Cena in a no disqualification match. Later, Lesnar suffered another loss in a no DQ match against Triple H. However, Lesnar would get a rematch in a steel cage and returned to his winning ways. Lesnar went on to break the Undertaker’s legendary Streak at WrestleMania XXX and later brutally defeated Cena for the championship belt.

]]>http://comicartcommunity.com/2014/09/wwe-dream-matches/feed/0Top 10: Heroes We Want in Arrow/Flashhttp://comicartcommunity.com/2014/09/top-10-heroes-want-arrowflash/
http://comicartcommunity.com/2014/09/top-10-heroes-want-arrowflash/#commentsFri, 05 Sep 2014 04:15:40 +0000http://comicartcommunity.com/?p=3674Ten candidates for the DC Television Universe of Arrow and the Flash.

As the DC Television Universe expands with the upcoming The Flash, fans have started speculating about a possible Justice League of America for Arrow and its new sister series. Arrow has thus far introduced Green Arrow, Huntress, Black Canary, and Roy Harper (who will transition into Arsenal in the upcoming season) and is set to introduce the Atom, Katana, Wildcat, and Manhunter. Of course, Barry Allen would emerge in Starling City last season and will go on to become the Flash as he will later be joined by Firestorm and a not-so-villainous Plastique (perhaps with shades of the Flash character Peek-A-Boo or the Human Bomb). A Justice League film franchise is currently in the works with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice set to include Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Cyborg, so it’s unlikely those characters would be available to the TV version especially following the announcement the film and TV universes will be kept separate. Further, as Constantine will be on a separate network and a Justice League Dark film is being planned, magic heroes are likely unavailable (if not, Jason Blood/Etrigan the Demon would have made this list). Previously, we posted about a possible Outsiders expansion with Katana, Black Lightning, Question, and Creeper so those incredible characters will be kept out of the running to keep from being redundant (otherwise, the latter three would occupy three spots). With that, lets take a look who we want to see come to the DC Television Universe.

10. METAMORPHO

Adventurer Rex Mason was a soldier-for-hire working for businessman Simon Stagg whose life was forever changed on an expedition into Egypt. Seeking the Orb of Ra for his employer, Mason would be attacked by Java, Stagg’s neanderthal bodyguard who was Mason’s rival for the hand of Sapphire, Stagg’s daughter. Left unconscious with the Orb, Mason was bathed in its radiation and was transformed into the monstrous Element Man, Metamorpho. With his nigh-invulnerable hide and ability to shapeshift and turn into any element, Mason became a bitter enemy of Stagg who ordered his attack by his bodyguard (Stagg having objected to Mason’s advances on his daughter). Stagg is saved however by using the Orb of Ra which can keep Metamorpho at bay as Sapphire convinces Mason to use his powers for good until a cure could be found for his condition. Eventually, Metamorpho would be offered membership into the Justice League of America but turned it down as he viewed himself as just some freak (though, Mason would later reconsider and join Justice League Europe).

Photo courtesy of Marc Tyler Nobleman.

9. PLASTIC MAN

Eel O’Brian was a career criminal orphaned at age ten and had to learn to live off the streets. Growing up to make a living as a safecracker, O’Brian would be shot and doused in chemicals one night while on a job at a factory. Abandoned by his crew, O’Brian ended up passed out at the foot of a mountain and awoke in a monastery with his wound attended to by its monks. Protected from the authorities by the order who felt there was great good in O’Brian, the crook reformed discovering he developed new wondrous elastic powers. Adopting the colors used by the monks for an elastic costume, O’Brian became the hero Plastic Man who used his criminal identity to gather intelligence and his heroic persona to smash evil wherever he found it. Virtually immortal, he fought crime for decades and would eventually find his way into the Justice League of America.

8 & 7. BLUE & GOLD

One of the most beloved duos in comic book history, Blue Beetle and Booster Gold both joined the post-Crisis on Infinite Earths Justice League and became best friends who tended to get into their fair share of trouble together (generally from one of Booster’s schemes). Booster Gold came from the future where he was disgraced professional football quarterback Michael Jon Carter who found work as a night watchman at the Metropolis Space Museum. Therein he concocted a scheme to steal devices from the Legion of Super-Heroes displays and travel back in time to use them to become a superhero that he would market into a lucrative corporation (sponsorship, merchandise, etc). In the 20th Century, Carter becomes the hero Booster Gold and saved the POTUS’ life and joined the Justice League. While his plan to amass his fortune was working, it would eventually fall through and despite losing that wealth, he began to change after working alongside real heroes, saving people from terrible calamities, and the sacrifice of his sister who followed him becoming the heroine Goldstar only to die in battle. Elements of Booster could be aligned with Green Arrow character Champion (as Arrow‘s versions of Black Canary and Brother Blood seemingly borrowed elements of Onyx and Steelclaw, respectively).

As for Blue Beetle, the name is in fact a legacy. Dan Garrett was an archeologist who discovered a mystical scarab that upon exclaiming “Kaji Dha!” transformed into the Blue Beetle wielding super strength, flight, and the power to project electricity. Ted Kord was a student of Garrett as the pair uncovered Kord’s uncle Jarvis was constructing an army of androids to take over the Earth. Garrett would transform into the Blue Beetle and combat the threat. Falling in battle, the scarab was passed to Ted but he couldn’t get it to bestow its power on him. Instead, Kord took the name Blue Beetle and made himself into a hero by studying martial arts and science and building a corporation that could secretly manufacture his tools. Kord would eventually join the Justice League where he befriended Booster. Years later, Kord would uncover a clandestine plot against Earth’s heroes and died trying to stop it. The scarab ended up in the hands of a young man named Jaime Reyes which fused to his body and turned him into the living weapon Blue Beetle. It was revealed the scarab was in fact an alien device that was suppose to enslave a resident of the world and use them to conquer their planet for the villainous Reach. However, this scarab was manipulated with magic in ancient times which damaged its programming. Reyes became the latest Blue Beetle and used his power to protect Earth and combat the Reach.

6. VIXEN

Mari Jiwe lived a tragic life in a small village in the M’Changa province of Zambesi, Africa which saw both of her parents murdered. When she was older, Jiwe moved to America where she became a famous model named Mari McCabe and amassed a small fortune. During one trip back to Africa, she came across the Tantu totem. Legend told of a warrior in ancient times named Tantu who made a pact with the deity Anansi the Spider to empower a totem with the abilities of all animals becoming Africa’s first superhero. This totem was passed down through Tantu’s family where his kin could use its great gifts. Jiwe’s father possessed the totem but was murdered by his half-brother who wanted its power for himself. Jiwe stole the totem from her uncle and used it to become the heroine Vixen. When the Justice League of America was reorganized for only full-time members, Vixen decided to apply and was accepted despite largely being a rookie on the hero scene. This incarnation of the League would likely be the most tragic as several of its members died, Vixen one of those to survive to its disbandment.

5. HAWKMAN

Thanagarian peacekeeper Katar Hol and his partner and wife Shayera Thal were elite Wingmen (Hawk-Police) on their homeworld who were tasked with capturing the shapeshifting criminal Byth who had escaped to the planet Earth. Therein, following the apprehension of Byth, the pair decided to remain on Earth and observe its police procedure practices (as crime was a relatively new phenomenon to Thanagar). On Earth, Hol and his wife took the names Carter and Shiera Hall in civilian guise and Hawkman and Hawkgirl as superheroes, respectively. As the Justice League of America was taking on new members like Green Arrow and the Atom, Hawkman would follow suit leading to a lifelong friendship between Hol and the Atom. Conversely, Hawkman and Green Arrow became bitter allies as Hol’s Thanagarian conservative values ground against Arrow’s liberal views. Seemingly whenever the pair were in shouting distance of each other and there wasn’t a mutual foe to battle, they would pick up their heated debates over which viewpoint was correct.

4. GRACE

Little is known about the past of Grace Choi save that she is half Amazonian (of the Middle Eastern Bana-Mighdall tribe) with an eastern Asian heritage. As a child, she was sold into slavery as an underage prostitute whose metagene activated upon puberty making her tall with super-strength, durability, and regeneration which she used to escape her bondage. At some point later, she met and befriended Roy Harper where they became lovers with no strings attached. When Harper was forming a new version of the Outsiders team, he recruited Grace who was working as a bouncer at a metahuman nightclub at the time. Largely, Grace acted as the muscle for the group carrying on an open relationship with Harper for a while before entering into an exclusive relationship with teammate Thunder (Black Lightning’s daughter). Through several incarnations of the Outsiders, Grace would remain a frequent member.

3. MISTER TERRIFIC

Michael Holt was seemingly a man who had everything. Naturally brilliant and a born athlete, Holt possesses fourteen PhDs, is a self-made multimillionaire, and won an Olympic gold medal in the Decathlon. However, he would lose his wife and unborn child in a car accident which pushed him to the brink of suicide. The timely intervention of the Spectre not only convinced Holt to continue on living, but to take up the mantle of retired superhero Mister Terrific. Mastering six different martial arts and developing an array of tools like the T-Mask which makes him invisible to all electronic surveillance and T-Spheres which are essentially free floating utility belts Holt can use to fly, Mr. Terrific would join and later lead the Justice Society of America. Identified as the third smartest man on Earth, Mr. Terrific’s role in the Society has been compared to Batman’s role in the League.

2. JOHN STEWART

When Green Lantern Abin Sur died on Earth, his ring sought another worthy to inherit its power and responsibility. Hal Jordan would be selected but in time it was revealed others on the planet met its criteria but were simply further away. One such man was John Stewart. A veteran U.S. Marine and architect in Detroit, Stewart would be chosen as a back-up Green Lantern to Earth when Jordan’s responsibilities took him away from his sector (a previous back-up in Guy Gardner was injured and needed to recover). When Jordan was unavailable, Stewart took up the ring for him including his place in the Justice League of America. At one point, Jordan retired from the Corps leading to Stewart replacing him full time where he would train with his future wife Katma Tui of Korugar (rogue Green Lantern Sinestro’s homeworld). Tui would later be murdered by Star Sapphire Carol Ferris. A popular fan theory is that Arrow character John Diggle could at some point become John Stewart. In the comics, Green Arrow and Hal Jordan would become best friends while Arrow and Diggle are best friends on Arrow.

1. MARTIAN MANHUNTER

A founding member of the Justice League of America, Martian Manhunter would largely be a stand-in for Superman in the group’s earliest incarnations as the Manhunter generally has all of Superman’s powers plus several more (telepathy, telekinesis, invisibility, intangibility, etc). Transported from his homeworld of Mars in an experiment by Dr. Erdel, J’onn J’onzz was stranded on Earth until his people could perfect travel between worlds. In the interim, J’onzz decided to work as police detective John Jones combating organized crime until Martians, supervillains, and monsters began arriving in his adopted home of Middleton, Colorado. Becoming the Manhunter from Mars, or Martian Manhunter for short, J’onzz battled these new threats and, as stated, helped found the League. Comments made by Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice writer David Goyer suggest a distaste for the character which could mean his exclusion in the film franchise which would likely leave him available for the TV universe. As such following the logic of this Top 10 list, stand-ins for Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman could be viable with Martian Manhunter, Green Arrow/Mr. Terrific, and Grace, respectively. Along with the Flash, Black Canary, Atom, Firestorm, and others like John Stewart and Hawkman, the TV universe would have quite the makings of a Justice League.

]]>http://comicartcommunity.com/2014/09/top-10-heroes-want-arrowflash/feed/0WWE Superstars Goes to Warhttp://comicartcommunity.com/2014/09/wwe-superstars-goes-war/
http://comicartcommunity.com/2014/09/wwe-superstars-goes-war/#commentsThu, 04 Sep 2014 05:11:39 +0000http://comicartcommunity.com/?p=3653Performers from across the last thirty five years of WWE history face off in Super Genius' WWE Superstars.

For Fall 2014, Papercutz’ imprint Super Genius will explore its series WWE Superstars in a more typical comic book fashion by taking readers through time and across space. From the minds of Mick Foley (multi-New York Times bestselling author who famously wrestled as Cactus Jack, Mankind, and Dude Love) and Shane Riches (R.P.M., Afflicted), “Legends” is inspired by Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars (while riffing on Monday Night Raw is War) and summons performers from across the last thirty five years of WWE history beginning with its days as the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) to today as World Wrestling Entertainment. While the exact details of the story have yet to surface, what is known is performers from throughout time have been captured and brought to the world Battleground where they’re forced to compete across a variety of stages. Featured in the story is “Rowdy” Roddy Piper and Daniel Bryan who must uncover the mystery of their abduction and, more importantly, how to get home. Thus far, the likes of Bruno Sammartino, Hulk Hogan, Iron Sheik, Jake “The Snake” Roberts, Junkyard Dog, Honky Tonk Man, Mr. Perfect, Ultimate Warrior, Undertaker, Road Warriors, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, The Rock, John Cena, Randy Orton, Wyatt Family, and “Bad News” Barrett are set to appear (as the likes of Sgt. Slaughter, Big Daddy Cool Diesel, Vader, Big Show, Kane, Triple H, Rey Mysterio Jr., Sheamus, Great Khali, Alberto Del Rio, and the Shield have been pictured in art released at this point).

THE IRON SHEIK vs. DANIEL BRYAN

Often times when one mentions professional wrestling, amateur wrestling slips rather far from one’s mind. In reality, many pro wrestlers have backgrounds in amateur wrestling. And in terms of the Iron Sheik (Khosrow Vaziri), he was an Olympic-level competitor. Born and trained in Iran, Vaziri competed internationally for his country only to defect to the United States following the assassination of his coach who publicly spoke out against the Shah. Working as a wrestling coaching assistant in America (including for U.S. Olympic teams), the Greco-Roman wrestler was invited to join the world of pro wrestling in 1972 and adopt a heel (villain) motif akin to the wrestler the Sheik. Around the time of the 1979 Iran Hostage Crisis, Vaziri as the Iron Sheik came to the WWF where history would bill him as the villain of villains. Praising Iran and denouncing America while in character, the audience found the Iron Sheik to be absolutely vile which made him perfect to get over babyfaces (heroes) with the crowd. In the WWWF (the precursor to the WWF), arguably the most legendary figure was Bruno Sammartino who held the promotion’s world heavyweight championship belt for eleven years. His reign came to an end when Sammartino suffered a broken neck and the belt passed to “Superstar” Billy Graham and then to Bob Backlund. As Hulk Hogan was becoming a big star in the emerging WWF, Backlund refused to pass the belt on to the performer because he lacked an amateur wrestling background. So, Backlund instead lost the belt to the Iron Sheik who then lost it to Hogan giving the rising star the much sought after championship. The Iron Sheik would go on to partner with Russian wrestler Nikolai Volkoff as the Foreign Legion, one of the most documented heel teams in WWF’s early years.

Earning such titles as “Best in the World” and “American Dragon,” Bryan Danielson was a force unto the pro wrestling world long before coming to the WWE. Referred as a “Founding Father” of Ring of Honor, Danielson was trained by one of the most regarded champions in WWF history. “The Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels was a popular and controversial figure in WWF known for his charisma and exceptional ring talent with significant pull at the company as part of the Kliq (which was perhaps the biggest catalyst for change in pro wrestling in the 1990s) and Degeneration X. A student of Michaels, Danielson would come to the WWE’s television series NXT as Daniel Bryan and went on a losing streak before coming to the WWE with his fellow NXT rookies as a heel. Bryan would be released soon after but return a couple of months later against the Nexus (the NXT competitors’ stable). Bryan would become a rising star at the company, making an unsuccessful run for the WWE Championship against CM Punk (arguably WWE’s modern day villain of villains) before forming a popular partnership with the monster Kane (becoming tag champs as Team Hell No). Bryan would go on to found the popular Yes! Movement and became the WWE’s top babyface, eventually becoming a four-time world champion.

“ROWDY” RODDY PIPER vs. “BAD NEWS” BARRETT

If Hulk Hogan was the protagonist of the WWF in its early years, “Rowdy” Roddy Piper would likely be best described as his nemesis (something undoubtedly true for the animated series Hulk Hogan’s Rock ‘n’ Wrestling). To describe Piper is a challenge as that while he was a major heel for the WWF, he was also a fan favorite. Played up as a Scottish warrior who was viewed as something of a rockstar by fans, Piper was famous for his unique interview segment “Piper’s Pit.” Unscripted, the popular portion of WWF’s programming would generally feature Piper progressively getting under the skin of his guest (often times another superstar) that on occasion resulted in a set destroying brawl. It displayed Piper’s most notable talents to the audience, namely his sharp, crafty mind and his brawling style of wrestling. For the history making first WrestleMania, Piper would team with “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff against Hogan and Mr. T for the main event. In the years that followed, Piper would turn babyface and became an entity not to be trifled with in the WWF defeating some of the best the sport had to offer (just generally not in a main event capacity anymore). While its often been cited that later monumental superstar “Stone Cold” Steve Austin became an everyman champion that stood up to authority, it’s undoubtedly true elements of that story could also be applied to Roddy Piper. Never one to be told what to do and stubbornly doing things his own way, he was a villain everyone loved which eventually led to his becoming a hero.

Winner of the first season of NXT, Englishman Wade Barrett was the leader of the Nexus who invaded Monday Night Raw forcing the various performers of the program to band together to fend them off (leading to a feud between Barrett and John Cena). CM Punk would eventually take control of the Nexus from Barrett and exile him from the group. Barrett moving on to found the Corre, the wrestler would eventually break out on his own when that group fell apart founding instead the “Barrett Barrage.” Becoming something of a rising star, Barrett later re-branded himself as “Bad News” Barrett and would become a four-time Intercontinental Champion.

JAKE “THE SNAKE” ROBERTS vs. “THE VIPER” RANDY ORTON

Few in the history of pro wrestling have held the intrigue of the audience as Jake “The Snake” Roberts. Perhaps holding sway like the hypnotic snakes he has as his symbol or the dark, cerebral style of mind games he famously played with his opponents, Roberts is a second generation wrestler (son of Aurelian “Grizzly” Smith) known for bringing snakes with him to the ring (most famously, the python Damien). Despite being played as a heel, Roberts famously won over fans becoming one of the earliest examples of a fan favorite heel in the WWF (in fact, it appeared at one point Roberts was becoming more popular than Hulk Hogan, which squashed his chances of facing Hogan in the ring). Following the success of Roddy Piper’s “Piper’s Pit,” Roberts would get his own likewise segment in “The Snake Pit” though his was less adversarial and would instead largely push along storylines. For a while, Roberts would turn babyface only to return to his heel status in the feud between the Undertaker and Ultimate Warrior where he remained a heel for his original run in the WWF. Sadly, Roberts would never gain gold during his run for the company.

A third generation wrestler as grandson to Bob Orton, Sr., son to “Cowboy” Bob Orton, and nephew to Barry Orton, Randy Orton entered the WWF to become an early-on fan favorite until he transitioned quickly into a heel joining the stable Evolution with Triple H, Ric Flair, and Dave Batista. Claiming the nickname “Legend Killer,” Orton targeted older wrestlers until becoming the youngest World Heavyweight Champion in WWE history. His title would see him violently expelled from Evolution and would later lose the belt to Triple H. Orton moved on to form the popular tag team Rated-RKO with former WWE champion Edge and the pair would go on to win the tag team belts. Following the dissolution of that team, Orton founded the Legacy stable with fellow legacy wrestlers until that team folded and he wrestled largely solo for some time. Eventually, Orton was judged the “face of the company” by Vince McMahon and was endorsed by the Authority (Triple H and Stephanie McMahon) to represent the company as its champion.

THE ROAD WARRIORS vs. WWE’s GREATEST TAG TEAMS

When you talk about the best tag team in the history of wrestling, at or near the top of most of those lists is the Road Warriors Hawk and Animal. Performing together around the world for almost a decade with their trademark face paint and spiked shoulder pads (modeled after the characters depicted in the Mad Max film series) before coming to the WWF, Vince McMahon re-branded the duo as the Legion of Doom (after the villainous group depicted in Challenge of the Super Friends) who quickly laid waste to the tag teams of the company. However, their stay with the WWF would be relatively brief after they grew weary with their storyline (which involved a ventriloquist dummy named Rocco). In truth, the team’s greatest days stemmed from their time at WCW (World Championship Wrestling) and in Japan where they fought some of the best tag teams the world had to offer.

While the teams the Road Warriors will face have not been named, there’s some groups that instantly come to mind. Some of the best tag teams to pass through the WWF/E include the Fabulous Freebirds, British Bulldogs, Steiner Brothers, Nasty Boys, Acolytes Protection Agency, New Age Outlaws, Edge and Christian, Dudley Boyz, and the Hardy Boyz. However, if the aim is to pit legends of the past against the more recent superstars, it’s likely the Shield will be featured. A trio of performers who came out of NXT, Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, and Roman Reigns came to the WWE as a team of hired guns working for CM Punk’s manager Paul Heyman. Previously, Ambrose and Rollins had highly acclaimed runs in the indie wrestling circuit before coming to WWE as the latter was the inaugural NXT Champion (Reigns a professional football player before joining NXT). Following their run working for Punk, the Shield went on an undefeated streak for six man tags and began a successful quest for gold as Ambrose became United States Champion and his compatriots the tag team champs. This advent led to their working as Triple H’s enforcers, helping Randy Orton in his bid to retain the WWE Championship. Eventually, the group would rebel against Triple H only for Rollins to betray the team where the group essentially fell apart in the aftermath.

THE UNDERTAKER vs. THE GIANTS OF WWE

The Phenom. Deadman. The Last Outlaw. The Undertaker has had many names in his illustrious career in the WWF/E. While people have often gone on about the impact Hulk Hogan, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, and the Rock have had on the WWF, one man has spent decades as the cornerstone of the company. A backroom enforcer keeping the roster in line, a WrestleMania legend whose Streak has taken on a life of its own, and a performer who tirelessly gave his body to the company for nearly a quarter of a century. When the Undertaker made his premier in the WWF in 1990, he was an absolute monster. Virtually impervious to pain, he destroyed any wrestler put before him eventually leading him down a path to the Ultimate Warrior. After a year long feud with Warrior, Undertaker set his sights on the rest of the higher echelon of talent leading to the defeat of Hulk Hogan and the Phenom becoming the youngest WWF Champion in history at that time. Hogan would shortly thereafter regain the belt but the Undertaker would then turn babyface and start cleaning out all the villains the company had to offer. In a very real way moving forward, as wrestlers came and went from the WWF, the Undertaker remained as the measuring stick by which performers were judged by. Heel or babyface, your dominance in the WWF was legitimized almost exclusively by the fact that you could beat the Undertaker in the ring. Perhaps as part of this, the idea of the Streak became an event unto itself of WrestleMania. While the Undertaker remained undefeated at WrestleMania since his first match there, performers started actively trying to conquer the Streak by beating the Phenom at the event. Out of twenty two WrestleManias the Undertaker wrestled in, he was only defeated once and that was earlier this year at the hands of Brock Lesnar.

Many giants have passed through the doors of the WWF/E. Names like Big John Studd, Sid Justice/Sycho Sid, Giant González, Big Daddy Cool Diesel, Kane, Big Show, and the Great Khali are some of the most notable big men to step into the squared circle of the company, but they all stand in the shadow of the immortal André the Giant. Dubbed the “Eighth Wonder of the World,” André quickly became a fan favorite when he emerged in the WWWF and was one of the most well known and beloved babyfaces in the history of the company. André was undefeated by pinfall or submission within the WWWF and WWF in fifteen years until his defeat at the hands of Hulk Hogan. After becoming the WWF’s heavyweight champion, the only wall left to climb for Hogan was defeating the sport’s biggest and most powerful man André the Giant (who became a heel to sell the conflict). In what was considered perhaps the most historic moment in wrestling history at WrestleMania III, Hogan lifted up and body slammed André to defeat the Giant and retain the belt. Following this, André’s declining health meant the end of his career was fast approaching and after a few more tussles with Hogan, the ailing wrestler was used to sell the new rising star Ultimate Warrior. André wrestled his final match in December 1992 and died a month later. He was the first person inducted into the WWF Hall of Fame.

THE ULTIMATE WARRIOR vs. JOHN CENA

In the entertainment business, producers are always on the look out for the next big thing. In terms of the WWWF and its successors, Bruno Sammartino was the face of the company in the ’60s and ’70s and Hulk Hogan in the ’80s. Going into the ’90s, there was a push for the next big thing and for fans of the WWF, it looked like the Ultimate Warrior was it. With a seemingly superhuman physique and an untamed spirit, the Warrior literally ran onto the scene and destroyed the competition with his high octane moves. Even better from a business standpoint, his trademark face paint design was iconic and sold more than its fair share of merchandise (becoming a phenomenon in the U.S., any event with face painting meant many several requests for the Warrior’s design). However, issues arose with the performer. His trademark run from the backstage to the ring was almost as exhausting for the audience as it was for the Warrior. Matches were often short in part because of this practice as well as the fact the Warrior didn’t have a strong background in wrestling. The Ultimate Warrior had to evolve for him to keep moving forward but issues beyond his physical problems would rear up. Described at worst as eccentric, those who worked with the Warrior admitted the man as being somewhat disconnected from reality. The final straw for the performer was extorting money from the WWF for a show he agreed to perform in only to demand more money the day of the event. While Vince McMahon bowed to the Warrior on that day, following the event Warrior’s short career with the company was ended.

The loss of the Ultimate Warrior was a major stumbling block for the WWF. Even worse, rumors arose of steroid use by the WWF talent with a focus on Hulk Hogan (who was a fervent advocate for healthy living) leading to the company’s star taking a leave of absence to escape the public scrutiny. Hogan would eventually admit to using steroids and left to perform in Japan and later WCW. Other stars, like Bret “The Hitman” Hart and “The Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels, would arise but it wouldn’t be until the emergence of “Stone Cold” Steve Austin as the ultimate anti-hero in 1996 that the company opened a new chapter for the WWF. However, Austin’s career as the company’s face was stifled by a series of injuries. Fortunately, another star would be born in the Rock. Eventually, Austin would be forced to retire as the Rock took on a skyrocketing acting career in Hollywood. In other words, another face of the company was needed and that role would be filled by John Cena. Arriving on the scene in 2002, Cena was a fast fan favorite that developed a popular gimmick as a rapper. Cena worked his way up the ladder, eventually becoming the WWE Champion. However, the fans began to turn on Cena, booing him at live events (the on-air talent blaming it on his ring style and clothes he chose to wear). While performing at an ECW event, fans started yelling obscenities at the performer and claimed he couldn’t wrestle and did the same old boring moves all the time. To this day, Cena largely remains the face of the WWE but continues to be bashed by the company’s audience (a call rallied publicly by wrestler CM Punk who has called Cena a phony and advocates change for the WWE, going so far as to leave after pushing for change from within the company for three years).

HULK HOGAN vs. “STONE COLD” STEVE AUSTIN

In the United States, when someone says wrestling, the person generally associated with that statement is Hulk Hogan. Undoubtedly, the most recognized and iconic figure in the history of pro wrestling in the U.S. and forevermore the face of the WWF, Hulk Hogan was a culture shifting event taking wrestling from essentially a regional sideshow to something of a national past time in the 1980s. Celebrities from music, Hollywood, and sports flocked to the WWF to own a piece of the experience it offered. While it wouldn’t be fair to say without Hogan pro wrestling would have never caught on, it’s certainly true it rose out of obscurity when it did because of him and holds the place it does today in our society because of the trail he blazed (of course, partnered with the vision of Vince McMahon). In fact, one really doesn’t need to relate the extensive career of Hogan in the sport because his impact alone is proof of his status as a legend. That being said, Hulk Hogan has performed in the pro wrestling arena for the last thirty seven years, roughly half of that time under the roof of the WWF/E. He has faced many of the best competitors the world has had to offer. However, the one person fans have always wanted to see Hogan face in the ring and will likely never get the chance to witness is “Stone Cold” Steve Austin.

In the world of professional wrestling, the landscape of the industry can be broken up into ages. For the purposes of this article, there was the time before the WWF rose to take its place in pop culture (which has its own long and storied path) and the changing tides of what followed. Hulk Hogan led the WWF to the world stage but the spotlight waned. WCW, a company that emerged from the chaos created by Vince McMahon’s damage to the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) to make his WWF, was essentially getting a blank check from billionaire Ted Turner to produce the most dominant wrestling organization on the planet. WCW would add Hulk Hogan to its roster and went on to start attracting some of McMahon’s rising WWF superstars. Mentioned earlier, the most dominant group of performers at the WWF was the Kliq of which WCW managed to attract members Kevin Nash (Big Daddy Cool Diesel) and Scott Hall (Razor Ramon) to join their company. Staging it as if the WWF was invading WCW, Nash and Hall came to the company and formed the New World Order (nWo) stable with Hogan which became perhaps the most dominant heel stable in the history of pro wrestling. The move was a monumental success, eventually flipping WCW into becoming the most popular wrestling promotion with the WWF behind it. McMahon tried to fight back, having Kliq members Triple H and Shawn Michaels form the heel stable D-Generation X (DX) and, while popular, it paled in comparison with the impact of the nWo storyline. McMahon wouldn’t be able to properly fight back until the rise of the anti-hero “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and the Attitude Era.

By the time Steve Austin came to the WWF, he had spent four years scraping to get ahead in WCW only to get passed over and fired for not being a “marketable” wrestler. Fortunately, Austin had made a friend in manager Paul Heyman during his tenure at WCW who brought on the wrestler to film a series of vignettes venting his frustration for the up-and-coming promotion Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW). Austin did not hold back, ripping into his former company with a fury and dug out every nugget of issue that held that company and its performers down. Within the year, Austin was brought into the WWF as a gimmick wrestler. However, it wasn’t long before the performer began just doing what he wanted with his own image and would become “Stone Cold” Steve Austin (modeled after a contract killer called “The Iceman”). Likely the moment in which Austin started to really stomp a path toward the character he wanted to be was at the 1996 King of the Ring. Following the defeat of Jake “The Snake” Roberts, whose character at the time was a born-again Christian, Austin mocked his fallen opponent with the unscripted remark “…Austin 3:16 says I just whipped your ass!” The phrase sent shockwaves through the wrestling world, showing the WWF had some teeth, and became a marketable soundbite for the performer and the company. The Attitude Era had come to the WWF as its performers became characters that generally lived in a gray area of morality and Austin led the charge. Inevitably, poor business decisions by WCW and a turn of bad luck for ECW saw those promotions shut down and be purchased by the WWF as the company largely stood alone atop the wrestling world (something still largely true today). One could argue that one of the reasons the WWF didn’t fall alongside WCW and ECW was because of the Attitude Era and the man who embodied it in “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. If Hulk Hogan brought the WWF to the world, Steve Austin was the man who saved it for generations to come.

While unlikely any film could ever be called easy to produce, Marvel Studios’ Ant-Man maybe the first movie the blockbuster juggernaut has stumbled over since the release of 2008’s Iron Man. In development since 2006, Edgar Wright (Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) was hired to direct and co-write Ant-Man which went through many changes before finally going into pre-production in late-2013. However, just as the some eight-plus year saga of development was finally about to produce the project, Wright left the film due to creative differences with Marvel. Intent on meeting its 2015 premiere date (as the film had been firmly queued with the steady stream of Marvel Studio movies coming down the pipe over the next few years), Peyton Reed was quickly brought on to direct. However, likely due to the creative differences Wright cited, the script was overhauled with characters cut as Patrick Wilson (Watchmen, Insidious), reportedly a significant character, bowed out of the film which was delayed some months overlapping into his other commitments. Some elements of the current script were brought to light at the recent San Diego Comic-Con to mixed reaction.

When the Marvel Studio films began being released, its plots were fairly close to the source material within reason. As time has progressed, some steps have been taken away from the source. A major change that became a gripe with fans was the reveal of the Mandarin in Iron Man 3. In fact, many raised such a stink about the change that the studio has backpedaled a bit, hinting at a more comic book-based Mandarin in a short film about Iron Man 3‘s Mandarin as studio head Kevin Feige has expressed a desire for a fourth Iron Man with the “real” version of the character. In the highly anticipated Avengers: Age of Ultron, the android Ultron has gone from a creation of Hank Pym (the comic book Ant-Man) to that of Tony Stark as the delay of Ant-Man’s emergence in the Marvel Cinematic Universe made being true to the source too challenging to do justice. However, the plot of Ant-Man itself maybe the most altered material from the source of any Marvel Studios film to date. Where the Avengers have been composed of their original comic book versions, namely Tony Stark as Iron Man, Steve Rogers as Captain America, Bruce Banner as Hulk, and so on, Ant-Man will have one of his replacements under the helmet in Scott Lang. Portrayed by Paul Rudd (The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Dinner for Schmucks), Lang is a petty thief hired by Hank Pym (played by Michael Douglas) to become Ant-Man to do a job for him. The film also cites several other significant changes.

For Ant-Man, Hank Pym invented the Ant-Man technology in 1963 however in the process of its development, some accident took place with Pym’s yet named wife and daughter Hope (portrayed in the modern day by Evangeline Lilly of Lost fame). Over time, Pym fostered a protege in Darren Cross (Corey Stoll of House of Cards) who became his business partner before later taking over Pym’s company. Pym hires Scott Lang as a thief to use the Ant-Man technology against Cross. Of course, much of this is comprised of fairly big changes from the original books. Pym and his partner (later wife) Janet Van Dyne were founders of the Avengers as Ant-Man and Wasp, respectively. Hope Pym was the daughter of Hank and Janet in an alternate future in the series A-Next where she played the villainous Red Queen. Darren Cross was a successful businessman who turned into a Hulk-like villain that fought Scott Lang during his first venture as Ant-Man. In the film, Cross is set to become Yellowjacket, one of Pym’s various identities over the years. Pym assumed the role of Yellowjacket during a mental breakdown caused by a botched experiment (while in this guise, he performed one of his most widely discussed acts when he struck his wife). Scott Lang was a reformed thief who stole Pym’s technology in order to save his daughter’s life only for Pym to give his blessing to keep the Ant-Man equipment and identity. In other words, the Ant-Man film is rather significantly removed from its source material which in the past has often been a decrement to a comic book movie adaptation’s success (certainly not always true, but perhaps more true than not). Only time will tell the future of Ant-Man, from will it even be made to will it premier on schedule to if it will do well at box office to the impact it could have on the future of comic book adaptations in general.

]]>http://comicartcommunity.com/2014/09/ant-man-marvels-first-hiccup/feed/1Mike Tyson Comes to [adult swim]http://comicartcommunity.com/2014/09/mike-tyson-comes-adult-swim/
http://comicartcommunity.com/2014/09/mike-tyson-comes-adult-swim/#commentsTue, 02 Sep 2014 05:16:38 +0000http://comicartcommunity.com/?p=3632In the world of professional boxing, few hold the prestige of Mike Tyson. However, his career would be marred by scandal only to undergo a Renaissance and in May 2014, [adult swim] would announce development of an animated series starring Tyson solving mysteries.

In the world of professional boxing, few hold the prestige of Mike Tyson. The youngest boxer to win the WBC, WBA, and IBF heavyweight titles and the first heavyweight boxer to hold the WBA, WBC and IBF titles at the same time (the only heavyweight to also unify those titles), Tyson’s career was marred by scandals like being found guilty of rape and later biting the ear of fellow boxer Evander Holyfield during a match. Tyson saw his career and wealth crumble until it underwent a Renaissance largely born from a memorable role in the film The Hangover. Since then, he went on to tour with a one-man show and became known famously to raise and care for hundreds of pigeons (his love of the metropolitan bird going back to his youth). In May 2014, [adult swim] would announce development of an animated series starring Tyson solving mysteries.

No stranger to geek culture, Mike Tyson licensed his likeness for three years to Nintendo in 1987 with Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!! In a strange twist, Tyson was not the player character but the final boss of the game which instead featured the tiny boxer Little Mac (a character undergoing his own revival of late in the games Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U). However, in the upcoming series Mike Tyson Mysteries, Tyson takes center stage as lending his services to those in need who contact him with a mystery via carrier pigeon. In his adventures, Tyson is joined by his adopted Korean daughter Yung Hee (played by Rachel Ramras of Mad), the ghost of the Marquess of Queensberry (played by Jim Rash of Community), and a man turned into a pigeon named… Pigeon (played by Norm Macdonald of Saturday Night Live). In the same vein as [adult swim] animated action-comedies like Venture Bros. and Black Dynamite, the show is an insane mash-up of concepts borrowing elements from Scooby-Doo, Ruby-Spears’ Mister T, Funky Phantom, Captain Caveman, and Inspector Gadget with an adult flair as a preview shown at the San Diego Comic-Con showed death, intense violence, and dark humor (Pigeon an alcoholic in the practice of hiring prostitutes as an example). Mike Tyson Mysteries is scheduled to come to [adult swim] in Fall 2014.

]]>http://comicartcommunity.com/2014/09/mike-tyson-comes-adult-swim/feed/0Godzilla Sequel Calls In Back-uphttp://comicartcommunity.com/2014/08/godzilla-sequel-calls-back/
http://comicartcommunity.com/2014/08/godzilla-sequel-calls-back/#commentsTue, 26 Aug 2014 19:50:10 +0000http://comicartcommunity.com/?p=3625Godzilla Sequel Calls in Back-Up by Jerry Whitworth In the ever-changing environment of American cinema, a new trend has emerged in blockbuster films. As the Expendables franchise unites action stars of old and today, the Avengers franchise key characters of several different Marvel films, and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice some of DC Comics’ […]

In the ever-changing environment of American cinema, a new trend has emerged in blockbuster films. As the Expendables franchise unites action stars of old and today, the Avengers franchise key characters of several different Marvel films, and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice some of DC Comics’ most iconic properties, Toho’s most well known franchise will be bringing together some of the company’s other notable players. At the San Diego Comic-Con, it was announced a sequel is being planned for the hit 2014 film Godzilla. An American reboot of the popular sixty year old franchise, Godzilla saw the titular character return to his Kaiju fighting roots battling two giant monsters (referred in the film as MUTO for Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organism). Produced by Legendary Pictures, the studio may very well become known as the giant monster movie makers with a sequel to its cult hit Pacific Rim, a prequel to King Kong in the upcoming Skull Island, and now a sequel to Godzilla scheduled for the future (though, Legendary isn’t the only Kaiju game in town with Lionsgate’s upcoming Power Rangers film). Lets examine who will be joining the King of the Monsters on the big screen.

MOTHRA

Likely Godzilla’s most well known frenemy, Mothra premiered in her self-titled 1961 film where she acted as a guardian for a pair of fairies of Infant Island. When the fairies were kidnapped and taken to Tokyo, Mothra carved a path of destruction until they were returned unharmed. Three years later, Mothra returned to battle Godzilla. In Mothra vs. Godzilla, Mothra’s egg washes up on the shores of Japan and is bought by a businessman hoping to make it a tourist attraction. When the twin fairies arrive to ask for the egg, they are refused and Godzilla attacks Japan. A group of people from the country travel to Infant Island to beg for Mothra’s help, eventually convincing the twins to send the giant monster. Mothra would give her life protecting her egg from the King of the Monsters. When the egg hatched, a pair of larvae emerged and fought Godzilla, trapping him and sending him off to sea. The single larvae that survived the encounter with Godzilla matured into Mothra and would return to join forces with Godzilla and Rodan against the threat of King Ghidorah.

RODAN

The eponymous stars of 1956’s Rodan, this Kaiju pair’s film was Toho’s first movie of the genre filmed in color and featured a pair of Pteranodon-like Rodans hatch from eggs in a mine at the base of the volcano Mt. Aso. At film’s end, it was believed both creatures were killed thanks to a forced eruption of Aso. However, in the 1964 film Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, one of the Rodan managed to survive and emerged to fight Godzilla. When King Ghidorah arrived on Earth, Mothra tried to rally Godzilla and Rodan to save the world but was rebuffed. Alone, Mothra battled Ghidorah until her resolve inspired the other two Kaiju to align with her. The film would be a turning point as the trio became a loose association of allies (similar to Marvel’s Defenders) as the three Kaiju largely changed into heroes. In Godzilla’s next film, Rodan would return as his ally and in the next film it would be Godzilla and Mothra. The trio emerged together again in 1968’s massive film Destroy All Monsters (which was originally intended to be the end of the franchise). In the story, Earth’s monsters are collected and moved to Monsterland where they were enclosed and observed. However, it ends up being a ploy by the alien race the Kilaaks who take over the monsters’ minds and turn them against humanity. Earth’s forces manage to free the beasts but still face the threat of King Ghidorah who guards the Kilaaks’ base at Mt. Fuji.

KING GHIDORAH

If Godzilla, Mothra, and Rodan were a group, King Ghidorah would be their nemesis. First appearing in Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, Ghidorah is an intergalactic three-headed dragon that travels from world to world wiping out life wherever he may find it. When the monster razed Mars, its sole survivor came to Earth to warn of his arrival. Only the combined effort of Godzilla, Mothra, and Rodan was able to force the retreat of such an imposing foe. The next year, the menace returned referred to as Monster Zero only for Godzilla and Rodan to again force its retreat. Its final battle would be when the Kilaaks took over the minds of Earth’s monsters and turned them against the planet. When mankind freed the beasts, Godzilla led them against the alien threat only for the Kilaaks to reveal their trump card: their control of the great and powerful King Ghidorah. Godzilla along with Mothra, Rodan, and four other Kaiju fought a seemingly hopeless battle against Ghidorah at Mt. Fuji. Despite how invincible the three-headed giant seemed, Godzilla’s forces would finally destroy the space-faring monster once and for all. However, miraculously, the monster was resurrected four years later and joined fellow space monster Gigan in order to wipe out humanity. Godzilla would join forces with fellow monster Anguirus to defeat the duo and force their retreat.

]]>http://comicartcommunity.com/2014/08/godzilla-sequel-calls-back/feed/0The DC Television Universe – A New Era in Superhero TVhttp://comicartcommunity.com/2014/08/dc-television-universe-new-era-superhero-tv/
http://comicartcommunity.com/2014/08/dc-television-universe-new-era-superhero-tv/#commentsMon, 11 Aug 2014 04:47:35 +0000http://comicartcommunity.com/?p=3616The DC Television Universe: A New Era in Superhero TV by Jerry Whitworth While Marvel blazed a trail with its Marvel Cinematic Universe which opened up into television and original online streaming content, DC Comics pursued another route with the television series Arrow. Originally a solitary series focusing on the exploits of Green Arrow, […]

]]>The DC Television Universe: A New Era in Superhero TV by Jerry Whitworth

While Marvel blazed a trail with its Marvel Cinematic Universe which opened up into television and original online streaming content, DC Comics pursued another route with the television series Arrow. Originally a solitary series focusing on the exploits of Green Arrow, its popularity has evolved into establishing a spin-off/extension in The Flash. Somewhat attempted before in the vein of Smallville with Birds of Prey and the unproduced Aquaman (in that it featured young attractive people generally in non-costumes, with some exception, appearing on the same channel), the worlds of Arrow and Flash directly correlate to each other as Arrow set the stage for the newer series with a crossover planned in the coming season. Though, it should be noted, DC has since dipped its toe into its own Cinematic Universe with the upcoming Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and a Justice League film (likely to include Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Cyborg who were cast for the earlier film) that will not align with the TV Universe. Lets look at some of the characters set to emerge in the DC Television Universe.

KATANA

Explored extensively previously in an earlier article, Tatsu Yamashiro was an expert in the martial arts and mother to two daughters whose family was torn apart by her brother-in-law Takeo. Desiring Tatsu for himself, Takeo murdered his own brother Maseo with the magical katana Soultaker and whose actions killed his nieces before Tatsu disarmed him and took the sword for herself. Takeo on the run from Tatsu’s wrath, she has dedicated her life to revenge and pursued him around the globe. For Arrow, Tatsu is the wife of Maseo, Oliver Queen’s ARGUS handler and mentor in Hong Kong (where Queen ended up after Amanda Waller saved him from the island Lian Yu). The character will be played by Devon Aoki (Miho in Sin City), half-sister of electro house musician Steve Aoki who appeared on Arrow playing himself in the episode “The Huntress Returns.” Maseo will be the latest in a series of mentors to Queen in the series, Yao Fei (Accomplished Perfect Physician in the comics) and Slade Wilson (Deathstroke) in the first season and Shado in the second season.

RAY PALMER

A professor for Ivy University, Ray Palmer is one of the most brilliant minds on Earth especially in the field of nuclear physics. Palmer’s life changed when he obtained a fragment of white dwarf star matter which could be used to shrink matter but the process made such things unstable (in turn, exploding). However, when the lives of his students and girlfriend were imperiled, he selflessly used his apparatus on himself to save them only to survive the exposure. Perhaps taking it as some sign, Palmer adopted the identity of the Atom, the Mighty Mite, and became a crimefighter finding he could alter his mass as well as his size allowing him to glide on air currents like flying or to attack with his normal size’s strength even when he’s shrunk down. It wouldn’t be long before he was a member of the Justice League of America, acting as both their science advisor and infiltration specialist, later becoming best friends with the intergalactic lawman Hawkman (though, the latter became a frequent sparring partner of Green Arrow). For Arrow, Ray Palmer will be played by Brandon Routh (Superman in Superman Returns) who becomes the new owner of Queen Consolidated with some designs on the Applied Sciences Division. The character seems to be an amalgamation of several elements, Isabel Rochev who scooped Queen’s company out from under him and Barry Allen in that rumor has it he will be a love interest to Felicity Smoak (forming a triangle as reportedly Queen and Smoak will move forward in their relationship). Likely, the character also shares some similarities to Ted Kord (Blue Beetle in the comics) who was an inventor and ran a company in Kord Industries. In fact, when a casting call went out for a character codenamed “Daniel,” many in the fan community thought it described Ted Kord only to likely instead be Ray Palmer.

WILDCAT

A member of the Justice Society of America, following the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths, Ted Grant was the masked crimefighter Wildcat who trained the likes of Batman, Catwoman, and Black Canary in the martial arts. Likely one of history’s greatest boxers, Wildcat used boxing, tumbling, and street fighting to take on some of the Earth’s most dangerous foes and most accomplished fighters (such as experts in Eastern combat) well into his golden years. In Arrow, Ted Grant will be played by J.R. Ramirez (Julio in Power) and he will be spending time with Laurel Lance (Dinah Laurel Lance being Black Canary in the comics). The Black Canary character was introduced in the second season of Arrow as Laurel’s sister Sara, a former member of the League of Assassins (similar to Onyx in the comics) and lover of Nyssa al Ghul (daughter of Ra’s al Ghul), who became the vigilante Canary to watch over her sister. At the end of the second season, Sara handed over her leather jacket to her sister as the former rejoined the League with Nyssa. While Laurel has shown skill in the martial arts, able to take down one or two normal people, the growing number of expert fighters and superpowered villains in Starling City who have challenged the likes of Canary and Arrow would leave Laurel hopelessly outmatched (even an expertly trained soldier like John Diggle finding it hard to barely keep up). Should Laurel pick up her sister’s mantle (as chatter seems to suggest will be coming soon), she would need someone like Ted Grant to train her to get there.

FIRESTORM

Likely the world’s leading nuclear physicist (as well as Nobel prize recipient), Martin Stein designed the Hudson Nuclear Power Plant, a groundbreaking atomic testing center that was also completely safe to those around the facility. However, the terrorist group Coalition to Resist Atomic Power (the acronym undoubtedly a not-so-inside joke) infiltrated the facility and blew up its reactor. Stein and Ronnie Raymond (a youth with the group that tried to stop them when he learned they weren’t simply protestors) were caught in the explosion and, instead of a grand nuclear disaster, the pair were fused together into the Nuclear Man, Firestorm. As Stein was unconscious during the explosion (knocked out by the group’s leader), Raymond became the dominant possessor of the power as his body and mind controlled Firestorm where Stein was a voice in his head offering him guidance for the power. Firestorm, as his name implies, was able to generate incredibly powerful flames but even greater than that, he could alter inorganic matter at the molecular level able to transform elements into other elements (lead into gold, air into water, and so on). Along with other abilities like flight, intangibility, super-strength, and on, Firestorm gained an impressive array of villainous foes and would join the Justice League of America. In the The Flash, one half of Firestorm will be portrayed by Robbie Amell (Stephen Jameson in The Tomorrow People and cousin of Stephen Amell, Oliver Queen in Arrow). Interestingly enough, in the comics, Felicity Smoak had something of a J. Jonah Jameson relationship with Firestorm and ended up marrying Ronnie Raymond’s father Ed, thus becoming the superhero’s step-mother.

RA’S AL GHUL

Arguably Batman’s second greatest nemesis (behind the Joker), Ra’s al Ghul was fashioned after characters like Ernst Stavro Blofeld (James Bond’s nemesis) and Fu Manchu as the head of a powerful, clandestine terrorist organization whose ultimate goal is to wipe out humanity. In the comic, al Ghul would only be mentioned ambiguously in the beginning as Batman teamed with his daughter Talia and fought Dr. Ebenezer Darkk (former head of al Ghul’s elite operatives in the League of Assassins). It wouldn’t be until later he would show himself, having learned all of Batman’s secrets (including his true identity) and testing the Dark Knight to see if he is worthy to be al Ghul’s second-in-command and heir to his dream (as well as husband to Talia). While Batman proved himself worthy (in time, more so than any other man), he refused al Ghul’s crazed plan and the two waged a global chess game that remains in effect today, al Ghul going so far to even target the Justice League of America on occasion. On Arrow, Ra’s al Ghul has thus far been mentioned by name as the first season’s primary antagonist Malcolm Merlyn was trained by the League of Assassins and is hunted by al Ghul. Mentioned earlier, Sara Lance was a member of the League and was the lover of Nyssa, al Ghul’s daughter. Its been revealed Ra’s al Ghul will be one of the primary antagonists for the third season of Arrow.

]]>http://comicartcommunity.com/2014/08/dc-television-universe-new-era-superhero-tv/feed/0Chikara – The Sequential Art Experimenthttp://comicartcommunity.com/2014/08/chikara-sequential-art-experiment/
http://comicartcommunity.com/2014/08/chikara-sequential-art-experiment/#commentsTue, 05 Aug 2014 03:53:58 +0000http://comicartcommunity.com/?p=3564Chikara: The Sequential Art Experiment by Jerry Whitworth When you talk about professional wrestling in the United States, the overwhelming majority of people think of the WWE, World Wrestling Entertainment (formerly WWF, the World Wrestling Federation). The undisputed king of wrestling entertainment, companies like World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) would […]

When you talk about professional wrestling in the United States, the overwhelming majority of people think of the WWE, World Wrestling Entertainment (formerly WWF, the World Wrestling Federation). The undisputed king of wrestling entertainment, companies like World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) would compete against WWF only to thrive, die, and be consumed by the Federation. Others would emerge, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) would take up remnants of WCW to become the WWE’s closest competition (of which it’s a distant competitor) and Ring of Honor (ROH) would largely be a beacon to independent promotions, in essence a showcase for various other companies under one roof, until it emerged as its own corporate-owned entity and became the third biggest pro wrestling organization in the US. ROH, to a degree, is one in a series of inheritors of the mantle of ECW. Philadelphia and its surrounding area was becoming a major hub for pro wrestling in the country, capitalized in this idea with the formation of the Tri-State Wrestling Alliance in 1989 which marked Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware as its territory (as part of the National Wrestling Alliance, NWA). Eventually, Tri-State’s territory grew to include New York and other Northeastern states, changing its name to Eastern Championship Wrestling in 1992. The NWA was largely the be-all, end-all of pro wrestling before Vincent Kennedy McMahon cherry picked its top talent to form his WWF and became independent of NWA. In wake of this, WCW grew to be its largest umbrella entity until it too broke away out on its own. Eastern Championship Wrestling would be the next hotspot to grow in the NWA until it became Extreme Championship Wrestling in 1994 and, as with WWF and WCW, broke away. Much like a king with several sons vying for the right to rule the kingdom, when ECW died a new inheritor to the realm was sought by many suitors.

In short order after ECW was bought by the WWF, Northeastern promotions (mostly hardcore) popped up everywhere largely around Philadelphia. John Zandig opened Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) in 1999 while ECW was still in business and was largely seen as its replacement. Rob Feinstein and Gabe Sapolsky started ROH in Bristol, PA in 2002 (a year after ECW closed its doors). Founded in 1999 in Southern California by Rob Zicari and Tom Byron (two businessmen in the pornography industry), Xtreme Pro Wrestling (XPW) was moved to Philadelphia in 2002 under the direction of ECW alum Shane Douglas. Douglas would go on to found Hardcore Homecoming with Cody Michaels and Jeremy Borash as ECW alum Tommy Dreamer founded House of Hardcore (HOH). In 2009, Japanese promotion Dragon Gate would open Dragon Gate USA (DGUSA) in Philadelphia under Gabe Sapolsky. However, none of these companies captured the magic of ECW. While known for its violent, bloody matches, what made ECW special was that it was a melting pot of wrestling cultures. Wrestlers from Mexico and Japan would regularly come through the promotion’s doors (until WCW saw them and scooped them up for themselves) as ECW saw mat wrestlers combat high flyers combat brawlers which was revolutionary for its time. When you take away the blood and guts, likely the inheritor of the will of ECW is Philadelphia-based promotion Chikara.

Founded in 2002, Chikara (the Japanese symbol for strength) was originally a showcase promotion for the Wrestle Factory (named after Japan’s Wrestle Dream Factory), a training facility organized by wrestlers Reckless Youth and “Lightning” Mike Quackenbush in Allentown, PA. Reckless Youth earned the nickname “King of the Independents” who grew up as a fan of the indie wrestling scene in Mount Holly, NJ and who idolized the Lightning Kid (Sean Waltman, later known as the 1–2–3 Kid, Syxx, and X-Pac), a short and skinny wrestler that took on the big and beefy performers that dominated professional wrestling (something still very true today). After training at “Pretty Boy” Larry Sharpe’s Monster Factory and Al Snow’s Bodyslammers Gym, Youth began touring eventually becoming largely the most recognizable performer not working for WWF, WCW, or ECW (though, Youth had brushes with all three companies), featured in various wrestling magazines, newsletters, and publications (his picture among the likes of Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair, at one point ranked higher than Hogan in popularity in the wrestling community). As Youth began getting a hold of tapes of foreign wrestling, he started adopting styles from the likes of Mexico, Japan, and England creating a new unique style. In his travels, Youth became good friends with fellow wrestlers “Dirty” Don Montoya and “Lightning” Mike Quackenbush.

“Lightning” Mike Quackenbush grew up in West Lawn, PA who, after watching the Super Friends-inspired live action specials Legends of the Superheroes, became a huge comic book fan. Thanks to his grandparents, Quackenbush would buy DC comic books sent to be pulped at a paper processing plant by the pound as well as inherited Bronze Age Marvel Comics from a friend’s brother. As a short and skinny kid, Quackenbush had few heroes to idolize among the WWF roster save the 1–2–3 Kid though he would greatly admire Owen Hart (son of famous wrestler Stu Hart). However, his world changed when he happened to watch a match between Flyin’ Brian Pillman and Japanese wrestler Jushin Thunder Liger. Dressed in a costume which included a mask and cape, Liger was an anime character created by Go Nagai licensed to New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) who became a phenomenon in Japanese culture (something like an amalgamation of Superman and Hulk Hogan for comparison of both his impact and identification). Prior to Liger’s emergence, NJPW did something similar with the manga character Tiger Mask who Quackenbush would also cite as an inspiration (as well as Japanese wrestler Manami Toyota and English wrestler Johnny Saint). Without any training, Quackenbush became a professional wrestler taking the name “Lightning” Mike Quackenbush in honor of Jushin Thunder Liger (namely, thunder and lightning). After working some years in the business, Quackenbush would work with El Hijo del Santo (son of Mexican luchador and folk hero El Santo, the most legendary wrestler in Mexican history comparable to some bizarre mash-up of Superman, Hulk Hogan, and Ronald Reagan) whose craft drove Quackenbush to push his art as far as he could and more. Quackenbush would find a kindred spirit in Restless Youth and the duo became rivals in the ring and then tag team partners (joined by Don Montoya to become the Black T-Shirt Squad, or BTS).

]]>http://comicartcommunity.com/2014/08/chikara-sequential-art-experiment/feed/0Al Rio Tribute Book Comes To Kickstarterhttp://comicartcommunity.com/2014/07/al-rio-tribute-book-comes-kickstarter/
http://comicartcommunity.com/2014/07/al-rio-tribute-book-comes-kickstarter/#commentsTue, 22 Jul 2014 21:01:13 +0000http://comicartcommunity.com/?p=3559Al Rio Tribute Book Comes to Kickstarter In 2012, the comic book world lost one of its own when artist Al Rio passed. Famous for his work on Gen¹³ and DV8 for Wildstorm and various assignments for Zenescope in a career spanning almost two decades, he is survived by his wife and three children. […]

In 2012, the comic book world lost one of its own when artist Al Rio passed. Famous for his work on Gen¹³ and DV8 for Wildstorm and various assignments for Zenescope in a career spanning almost two decades, he is survived by his wife and three children. It is for his family that a tribute series has started exploring Rio’s career up to its unexpected end. The first book in the series, Al Rio Tribute Art Book Volume One, features art from 2003 to 2005 (two previous books covering earlier years and have which become highly collectible) and a biography on the artist’s life.

Brought to Kickstarter, Al Rio’s business partner Terry Maltos organized the tribute project and its campaign to publish it with help from Mark McNabb who laid out the book and Thomas Mason who colored many of the pieces Rio drew.

A pledge of $15 will provide a PDF digital copy of the 88-page book as well as desktop backgrounds for the computer, $40 a hardcover copy of the 8.5″ x 11″ book and its PDF, and $100 a physical and digital copy of the book with your name in a special Thank You section at the end of the book.

Limited in quantity, three Al Rio sketches are also available with a pledge of $550 each which will include the three aforementioned pledge levels. So limited, in fact, by the time of this writing, one of the sketches has been scooped up already with the Sorceress from Masters of the Universe and She-Ra left remaining.

With a goal of $5,500 in order to succeed, it is hoped that should the book be funded, it would be followed by two or three more books to cover the remaining years of the artist’s career. Also, should the book be funded, a stretch goal of $7,500 would be unlocked toward at least one 6″ x 9″ lenticular (Motion Graphics) card be included with each order.

As a final note, the purpose of the Kickstarter is to pay tribute to an artist who gave nearly two decades of his life to the comic book industry but, most importantly, to help support the family of which Al Rio provided for in his wife Zilda, son Rene, and daughters Adrielle and Isabelly.

]]>http://comicartcommunity.com/2014/07/al-rio-tribute-book-comes-kickstarter/feed/0Top 10 Justice League Membershttp://comicartcommunity.com/2014/07/top-10-justice-league-members/
http://comicartcommunity.com/2014/07/top-10-justice-league-members/#commentsFri, 18 Jul 2014 05:08:51 +0000http://comicartcommunity.com/?p=3520Top 10: Justice League Members by Jerry Whitworth With filming beginning already on Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and the announcement of a Justice League film being produced directly afterward, a lot of focus has been placed on the super group in recent memory. The premier superhero team for DC Comics, the Justice […]

With filming beginning already on Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and the announcement of a Justice League film being produced directly afterward, a lot of focus has been placed on the super group in recent memory. The premier superhero team for DC Comics, the Justice League of America was a 1960s update of the 1940s Justice Society of America. Traditionally, the group is made up of the most powerful and popular heroes for the publisher originally starting with Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman, and Martian Manhunter (the first three commonly referred as the Trinity and the seven called the Big 7). However, within subsequent issues the cast grew to include the likes of Green Arrow, Atom, Hawkman, Black Canary, and dozens more as years passed. With such a powerful group, the Justice League fought the worst of the worst as foes like Starro, Amazo, Despero, Doctor Destiny, Felix Faust, Lord of Time, Queen Bee, and the Crime Syndicate not only threatened the League but many times the world. Out of around two hundred members across such variations as International, Europe, Antarctica, Task Force, Unlimited, Elite, Dark, United, and more, lets examine who qualifies as the best of the best.

Green Arrow and Black Canary

10. BLACK CANARY

Last of the 1960s recruits to the Justice League, Black Canary is the daughter of the original character to bear that name. Originally, the writers of the Justice League of America comic wanted the original Canary to join the League only to realize her advanced age would be a problem. So, a solution was devised such that Justice Society of America foe the Wizard magically gave Canary’s daughter the Canary Cry, a devastating sonic blast emanating from her mouth that the child couldn’t control and the Society’s Thunderbolt genie couldn’t remove. As a compromise, the daughter was placed in suspended animation (though aging) until a remedy could be found while everyone’s memories were wiped of the affair by the genie. When the original Canary was dying from a battle with a living star that fought the League and Society, the genie imparted her memories into her now adult daughter’s body. Along the way, she became a love interest to Green Arrow and largely the character came to be identified as Arrow’s partner and lover. However, everything changed with the Crisis on Infinite Earths.

Black Canary

After Crisis, Earths One and Two were merged as both mother and daughter Canary existed in a more traditional relationship (having the same first and last name, the daughter had the middle name Laurel to distinct her). While Laurel’s mother didn’t want her daughter to follow in her footsteps, her father Gotham City private detective Larry Lance and the members of the Justice Society taught Laurel in secret (as many Society members didn’t have children, or didn’t raise them for different reasons, Laurel largely became a surrogate daughter of the bunch). This was especially true of Ted Grant, the golden age Wildcat and one of history’s greatest boxers (such that Bruce Wayne sought him out as one of his teachers on his road to becoming Batman). Laurel became a fighter, detective, tactician, and stealthy heroine with few parallel, taking on her mother’s mantle and costume (so far as donning a blonde wig to cover her natural black hair) at the age of nineteen. Following the public emergence of Superman, other heroes began to come out of the shadows and within time, five such heroes formed the group the Justice League of America (namely, the Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, and Black Canary). Considering the changes to history because of Crisis, the Manhunter largely filled in Superman’s role to a degree and Canary took on that of Batman (until Green Arrow appeared) with elements of Wonder Woman. As such, Canary became significantly more interesting, unique, and dangerous because among a team of self-styled gods, the very human Dinah Lance held her own and contributed to the group thanks to her skills and abilities.

Black Canary by Adam Hughes

While indeed Black Canary and Green Arrow became an item down the line, there’s was a rocky relationship- oft times on and off again. More importantly, Canary wasn’t an accessory to Arrow though becoming a matriarch to his growing group of archers, as the heroine found herself as a founding member of the mostly female group known as the Birds of Prey. Along with former Batgirl Barbara Gordon, confined to a wheelchair following an attack by the Joker and becoming the hacker Oracle, Black Canary became a bit of a superhero secret agent as Oracle worked behind the scenes and Canary steamrolled over criminals. The group would take on many members, notably Huntress, Savant, and Misfit, as Oracle and Canary shared responsibility in leading the team. Along the way, Canary and Oracle went from being known as bit players to Green Arrow and Batman, respectively, to become stars themselves. Both at different times would return to the League as titans within the group, Canary as the League’s chairperson following the event Infinite Crisis (speaking of which, retroactively, Canary was a founding member of the JLA alongside the Big 7). She would lead the team until its disbandment after Final Crisis where Green Lantern and Green Arrow formed their own rogue Justice League team following the death of Martian Manhunter, a group that would be rocked by the return of the villain Prometheus.

Atom

9. ATOM

Ray Palmer was at one time simply a brilliant physicist at Ivy University until he discovered a chunk of white dwarf star that enabled a ray able to shrink anything. Using this apparatus to save his girlfriend and students during a spelunking accident, Palmer decides to become the costumed adventurer known as the Atom. In addition to shrinking, he could alter his mass and density such that even in a smaller state, he can have the weight and strength of his full grown self. Further, he could travel on air currents similar to gliding and even travel along phone wires to get from one place to another at super speed. Joining the Justice League, the Atom was their science advisor whose knowledge of various scientific disciplines made him invaluable when dealing with the likes of robots, energy beings, and various phenomenon (not to mention his shrinking ability allowing him to be the perfect covert operative). However, Palmer felt like the group’s weakest member as he only saw his ability to shrink being his sole contribution to the League. Regardless, the Atom went on various harrowing adventures on his own including traveling through a time portal a colleague created, crossing over into other dimensions, and discovering diminutive and microscopic societies as well as forming a brotherly relationship with fellow Leaguer Hawkman. The Atom, though, would evolve past simply being a science geek with shrinking powers out of necessity.

Sword of the Atom

When Jean Loring, Palmer’s girlfriend turned wife, cheated on the hero with a fellow lawyer, the Atom divorced her and would embark on an assignment in which the world thought him dead. Discovering a race of miniature humanoids in the jungles of South America, Palmer found himself unable to return to normal height and had to become a warrior to survive and topple those in the tiny race that sought to enslave their fellow beings. Drawing inspiration from Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Barsoom series, the Atom fell in love with their princess Laethwyn and decided to abandon his civilization in favor of the race he found. This peace would not last, however, when the Atom’s adopted race is wiped out and he’s forced to again become a hero to avenge them, bringing those responsible to justice. A superhero again, the Atom changed mixing his brilliant mind with an arsenal of new technique and primal presence such that to combat a myriad of new, more powerful and dangerous enemies (notably Humbug the Reusable Man).

Atom: Brightest Day

Following a brief spell with the Teen Titans, the Atom became an active on-call reservist for the Justice League, something like a guided missile called in when the need was great enough. When Sue Dibny (wife of Elongated Man) was killed while in her home, the Atom was brought in as part of some secret team within a team of Justice Leaguers where it was retroactively revealed would get their hands unusually dirty when the League’s loved ones are endangered. When it’s revealed Palmer’s own ex-wife Jean was the killer, the hero retreats from civilization again. Later, when the Atom’s protege Ryan Choi is murdered, Palmer rejoins the League to bring his killer to justice. Post-Flashpoint, another Atom named Rhonda Pineda would appear in the Justice League only to be revealed to be an evil double agent.

]]>http://comicartcommunity.com/2014/07/top-10-justice-league-members/feed/0Vortexx and the Death of Saturday Toonshttp://comicartcommunity.com/2014/07/vortexx-death-saturday-toons/
http://comicartcommunity.com/2014/07/vortexx-death-saturday-toons/#commentsSun, 06 Jul 2014 04:22:39 +0000http://comicartcommunity.com/?p=3510Vortexx and the Death of Saturday Toons by Jerry Whitworth News broke late May that Vortexx, the children’s programming block on the CW, would be coming to an end to make way for live action programming for a more family-orientated audience. Vortexx holds the distinction of being the last block of syndicated Saturday morning […]

News broke late May that Vortexx, the children’s programming block on the CW, would be coming to an end to make way for live action programming for a more family-orientated audience. Vortexx holds the distinction of being the last block of syndicated Saturday morning cartoons in the United States. Where channels like ABC, CBS, and NBC once dominated the market, cable channels like USA got into the act before local affiliates of Fox, Warner Bros, and more largely inherited the realm. Saturday morning cartoons came about in the 1960s when television stations wanted to sell advertising space that would appeal to children. So, animation studios that could cheaply produce series were hired and cartoons once only available in movie theaters were telecast on Saturday mornings. The experiment was a complete success. And the only place it could go was up.

When Star Wars hit theaters, not only did it change the film industry, its success in merchandising altered toy companies forever. Wanting to get in on the kind of money Star Wars pulled in but on a more regular basis at a reduced cost, toy companies created what many refer as glorified half hour commercials in licensed cartoons. The 1980s would be awash in Saturday morning cartoons as every major toy company peddled their wares. Toys were selling like mad, especially because of changing attitudes in the American consciousness. Where for decades people were taught to save their money for emergencies and to make large investments, the real threat of nuclear war had many people fear that there in fact was no future and spent their savings with this issue at mind. The ’80s was a time of decadence in this manner until people began to realize their fears were not as legitimate as it turned out to be. Cartoons evolved, while there was still a prevalent toy market, where popular series also now meant ratings (and money again earned from advertising).

By the 90s, blocks like Kids WB, Fox Kids, and Amazin’ Adventures emerged, at first as competition for the stalwarts ABC, CBS, and NBC before WB and Fox knocked down their competitors. Part of this came from a shift from relying on American animation to adapting Japanese shows, be it anime or live action programs like Power Rangers and Beetleborgs. These series provided a new style of animation/action and story, but more importantly were much cheaper to produce because it relied on content already made for another market that mostly just needed dubbing or little footage shot/edited. However, around the ’90s Saturday morning cartoons were beginning their decline. Cable networks like Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network premiered which either aired cartoons much or all of the time making programming blocks for syndication to appeal to advertisers obsolete. Further, the focus of children shifted as video games, which could be played any time and provided instant gratification, became the past time of choice (which also heralded a sharp decline in the toy market). Still, the Saturday morning cartoon limped on.

ABC, CBS, and NBC largely abandoned their animated programming blocks as Kids WB began shifting over to Cartoon Network. Fox largely had the last game in town as 4Kids Entertainment, who dubbed popular series like Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh!, won a bid to take over the network’s children’s programming. In 2002, Fox Kids became Fox Box which later became 4Kids TV. Again, dubbed and edited anime became the most likely source of content (edits historically drawing a great deal of criticism from preexisting fans of those series licensed). Power Rangers wouldn’t join along for the ride as while 2002’s Power Rangers Wild Force was being produced, the franchise was bought by Disney which was made the crown jewel of the rather weak ABC Kids Saturday block, accompanied mostly with reruns of Disney Channel shows (4Kids would dub Ultraman Tiga likely in an attempt to make-up for the loss).

The CW would put the final bullet in the head of Kids WB (which was a second fiddle to Cartoon Network) in 2007 leading to 4Kids to jump to CW with CW4Kids (and then to Toonzai, arguably to draw parallels to Toonami). 4Kids maintained its anime content and tried to renew interest in the Masked Rider franchise with Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight. In 2011, 4Kids would file for bankruptcy which led to Saban Brands (who bought back Power Rangers in 2010) acquiring all of the company’s properties save Yu-Gi-Oh! (which went to a subsidiary of Konami). Included in the deal was 4Kids’ slot on the CW on Saturday mornings which gave rise to Vortexx. From Toonzai, Vortexx would keep Sonic X, Dragon Ball Z Kai, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal, and Cubix: Robots for Everyone as well as later bring back The Spectacular Spider-Man. Reruns of popular series like Justice League Unlimited and Power Rangers Lost Galaxy were aired, new series WWE Saturday Morning Slam and Digimon Fusion emerged, and Sendokai Champions was slated for the future. A future we now know will never come.

]]>http://comicartcommunity.com/2014/07/vortexx-death-saturday-toons/feed/2Make it So – Masks the Moviehttp://comicartcommunity.com/2014/06/make-masks-movie/
http://comicartcommunity.com/2014/06/make-masks-movie/#commentsThu, 19 Jun 2014 06:05:07 +0000http://comicartcommunity.com/?p=3500Make it So: Masks the Movie by Jerry Whitworth Collected last September, Masks was one of several series teaming some of the properties licensed by Dynamite Entertainment (alongside series like The Lone Ranger/Zorro: The Death Of Zorro, The Prophecy, Lords of Mars, The Shadow/Green Hornet: Dark Knights, Codename: Action, Kings Watch, and Justice, Inc.). […]

Collected last September, Masks was one of several series teaming some of the properties licensed by Dynamite Entertainment (alongside series like The Lone Ranger/Zorro: The Death Of Zorro, The Prophecy, Lords of Mars, The Shadow/Green Hornet: Dark Knights, Codename: Action, Kings Watch, and Justice, Inc.). Among its contemporaries, the series stands out teaming the likes of the Shadow, Green Hornet and Kato, Zorro, Spider, and others. Its story is based in 1938 (the year Superman premiered and changed the face of the comic book industry) as a new political party emerges and sweeps control of New York. Known as the Justice Party, regular police are disbanded and replaced with the Black Legion who enforce the totalitarian rule of the new regime with an iron fist. As it’s learned this party is in fact controlled by organized crime and founded by a former crime fighter named the Clock, the various mystery men of New York are forced to ban together as the city’s last hope for justice. With superheroes taking over Hollywood, it’s likely studios are looking for the next concept not tied to Marvel or DC Comics (as the former is largely tied to Disney and latter to Warner Bros). Further, while the pop culture presence of characters like the Shadow, Green Hornet, and Zorro are fading, its arguably greater than something from another publisher like Image or Dark Horse (Spawn and Hellboy notwithstanding). Lets take a look at how this story could be made for the big screen.

THE MASKS

Considering the failure of The Lone Ranger and The Green Hornet, hopefully lessons have been learned about how not to make a non-Big Two superhero film (like comedy should be a small part of the package, not a huge chunk of it). Further, with The Avengers and upcoming films like Avengers: Age of Ultron and Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, the potential of a team-up film should prompt the capability to materialize something like Masks (considering the various properties licensed for it) as well as establish a baseline for what works. Along with the aforementioned Green Hornet, the Shadow and Zorro benefit from having films in fairly “recent” history (The Legend of Zorro in 2005, sequel to a 1998 film starring Antonio Banderas, as Alec Baldwin’s Shadow was twenty years ago). A harder sale will be characters like the Spider, Black Bat, Miss Fury, Black Terror, and Green Lama. Not to mention, their presence making for a fairly bloated cast as The Avengers had six members (opposed to Masks‘ nine) several of whom had films leading into the ensemble project. Characters like Black Terror and Green Lama felt out of place in the series and whose role wasn’t quite significant to the plot could rather easily be cut. It’s likely Miss Fury was added to the cast for the sake of a female hero which could go either way towards being adapted (she could be in the film for the same reason or excluded because her role wasn’t integral). Black Bat will undoubtedly be ripped by the audience as being some amalgamation of Batman and Daredevil, but considering he emerged about the same time as Batman (where a deal was worked out behind closed doors for both characters to coexist) and predates Marvel’s Daredevil by twenty five years, chances are good he could remain (which is fairly important to the plot, as he has a connection to the series’ main villain). Now, the Spider was largely invented originally to be a clone of the Shadow. However, when Dynamite picked him up, they altered him so the similarities were not so exact (such as incorporating elements of his film serial costume). Regardless, though, in a film with the Shadow and Green Hornet, the Spider seems rather redundant (despite having a significant part in the story). What maybe a huge change but could help the project would be a substitution with the Phantom.

THE PHANTOM

The Phantom is owned by King Features and licensed to Dynamite. When people talk about King Features, they often mention Flash Gordon. However, I would think the Phantom as notable as Gordon today. Where as Flash Gordon was at one time the company’s biggest draw, his star has faded significantly in recent history. The character maybe remembered best today for his feature film in 1980 starring Sam Jones or one of his animated series (Filmation did a series in 1979 and animated film three years later as Marvel Productions did Defenders of the Earth in 1986, which also starred the Phantom). Sci-Fi Channel would produce a Flash Gordon live action television series in 2007 that lasted one season. As for the Phantom, in addition to the aforementioned animated series, there was the cartoon Phantom 2040 in 1994, live action film in 1996 starring Billy Zane, and television mini-series on Syfy in 2010. However, what would make the character work for Masks is that he’s a masked crimefighter with the same recognition of the likes of Green Hornet, the Shadow, and Zorro (distinguishing him from fellow King characters Flash Gordon and Mandrake and making him a more suited candidate than the Spider).

JUSTICE PARTY

In the series, the main villain is the Clock, a former district attorney named Brian O’Brien (Tony Quinn, the Black Bat, would succeed him) who became a costumed hero (historically, the first masked hero in the history of comic books). Along the way, O’Brien had a change of heart about the best way to combat injustice, borrowing a note from the villain Big Shot and deciding to become the puppet master of a movement he hoped to help him eventually control the entire country. While something like this works well for the series, whose generally pulp magazine characters had no powers, a feature film might need something more. Something that comes to mind immediately was a foe of the Spider called Iron Man (twenty four years before Marvel’s Iron Man) who formed an army of men outfitted with large suits of power armor to takeover New York City (early super science already played to great success similarly in Captain America: The First Avenger). If indeed the Phantom could be made available for the film, the Eastern Dark could have a presence to necessitate his involvement. A notable organization after the Shadow would be the Black Dragon Society and a frequent foe of the Green Hornet was Mister X.

FRANCHISE STARTER

While producing a single film in-and-of-itself could be a strong sell for making Masks, likely the bigger draw could be if successful, a new franchise could be established. Already mentioned, Dynamite has produced several (generally unrelated) team-up series that could be fertile for film development. Success with Masks could lead the Phantom into a Kings Watch film, the Shadow into Justice, Inc., and Green Hornet into Codename: Action. Putting it another way, King Features could get its own playground, Conde Nast (who owns the Shadow) its own playground, and Green Hornet continues the original franchise by bringing Captain Action into the mix and set-up the Spider as a stand-in for the Shadow. In essence, one film could spawn three film franchises if done right. And, of course, based on its success or failure could open up brand new doors for these characters, be it animation, action figures, and so on.

]]>http://comicartcommunity.com/2014/06/make-masks-movie/feed/1Heart of Justice – The Manhunter from Marshttp://comicartcommunity.com/2014/06/heart-justice-manhunter-mars/
http://comicartcommunity.com/2014/06/heart-justice-manhunter-mars/#commentsWed, 11 Jun 2014 05:30:40 +0000http://comicartcommunity.com/?p=3457Heart of Justice: The Manhunter from Mars by Jerry Whitworth Writer’s Note: The Idol-Head of Diabolu, a Martian Manhunter blog was invaluable in the creation of this article! Visit them today. David Goyer, the scribe behind Man of Steel and its sequel Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, recently drew criticism for comments regarding the […]

David Goyer, the scribe behind Man of Steel and its sequel Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, recently drew criticism for comments regarding the Martian Manhunter. Painting the character as silly from his name to his modus operandi, the statement heaped even more backlash from fans that panned Man of Steel and decried seemingly every new announcement about the sequel (be it the casting of actors like Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, and Jesse Eisenberg to the very title of the upcoming film). Several sites have cited part of the problems with Man of Steel and choices made about its sequel could come from a lack of understanding of the source material, the statement given by Goyer another in a series from the scribe and director Zack Snyder that may have some basis for the claim. Considered somewhat less than an A-list character, lets take a look at the Manhunter from Mars.

The character of Martian Manhunter was very much a product of his time. Following the collapse of the American comic book industry in the 1950s due to the efforts of those like Fredric Wertham and the United States Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency, remaining publishers like National (DC Comics) and Atlas (Marvel) were largely the only game in town. Because of the furor generated by Wertham, genres like superheroes, Crime, and Horror were virtually dead (or castrated) as only the likes of Superman and Batman could hang on (and even then, Batman held on by a thread). Considering the success of Superman, the Batman books began delving rather heavily into Sci-Fi and on one occasion teamed up with a certain lawman from Mars. Roh Kar was the only lawman on his peaceful planet of Mars (inspired by the heroes of Earth he observed from afar). When a villain named Quork emerged, Roh Kar chased him eventually landing on Earth. Therein, Batman, Robin, and Roh Kar brought the villain to justice. At a time when Sci-Fi and Crime stories were more desirable than superheroes, Roh Kar’s character seemed to strike a chord with someone as two years later elements of the character were reworked and so was born J’onn J’onzz.

Emerging as a back-up story in the pages of Detective Comics, “The Strange Experiment of Dr. Erdel” detailed the arrival of J’onn J’onzz on Earth when scientist Dr. Saul Erdel teleported the Martian from his planet in a bid to discover alien life. Erdel reveals his device would have to be drastically altered, perhaps over the span of years, to return the alien to his homeworld before the strain of the event killed the scientist. Marooned on Earth, J’onn (a scientist on his homeworld) recalls his planet being on track towards interplanetary travel and decides to bide his time until then playing the part of a police detective until he could return home to his family. Taking the identity of John Jones, the so-called Manhunter from Mars fought organized crime in the city of Middleton, Colorado before members of his race began emerging on Earth (J’onn a greenskin, there were also the yellowskins and whiteskins) finally giving him the means to return to Mars. However, J’onn felt he was making a difference on Earth, observing it as a culture not unlike Mars during its formative years. So, he decided to live on Earth and visit his world on occasion.

A year after the Manhunter from Mars emerged, the editors at National decided to give superheroes another chance (largely along the Sci-Fi thread which was popular with readers). Julius Schwartz, an agent for Sci-Fi writers (as well as former Sci-Fi fanzine publisher) who became an editor at National, was tasked with reviving heroes. Schwartz oversaw writers Robert Kanigher and John Broome with artist Carmine Infantino re-imagine the Flash for a new age thus beginning the Silver Age of Comic Books. Soon after came Green Lantern, Hawkman, and the Atom leading to the Justice League of America. A re-imagining of the Golden Age Justice Society of America, the League brought together Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman, and the Manhunter from Mars (shortened to Martian Manhunter). J’onn was the only founding member of the League not based on a Golden Age version. This was due to an idea amongst the editors that kids would get burned out on seeing characters like Superman and Batman appearing in another book in addition to those they already starred within (which in another manner pays homage to the Society because while Superman and Batman were officially members, they rarely ever appeared with the team as they belonged to a separate publisher under the same umbrella at the time). So, Martian Manhunter would be a stand-in for Superman (and later Green Arrow for Batman) as both of their powers were vaguely defined meaning for the confines of the story, anything Superman could do so could J’onn (initially, Manhunter relied on shape shifting and his telepathic abilities before his abilities were wildly expanded upon). Though, while Superman was weak against Kryptonite, the Martian Manhunter was weak against fire when in his Martian state.

Despite the rebirth of superheroes in the comics industry (according to Stan Lee, the Justice League inspiring the creation of the Fantastic Four which returned superheroes to the burgeoning Marvel Comics), sales of Batman’s titles continued to do poorly. Martian Manhunter, who had been a regular back-up series in Detective Comics for nine consecutive years, had started fighting supervillains in his stories before an editorial shift saw Julius Schwartz being brought in to save the once great Batman franchise. As the Elongated Man (loosely based on Dashiell Hammett’s Thin Man) replaced Martian Manhunter in Detective, outgoing editor Jack Schiff made J’onn the star of the Horror comic book series House of Mystery (around this team, Martian Manhunter and Green Arrow would appear alongside each other in The Brave and the Bold which would then change its format to a team-up book). The series initially featured Martian Manhunter’s first nemesis in the Idol-Head of Diabolu, an ancient artifact of a powerful wizard that summoned terrors upon the world. As the concept didn’t seem to catch on with viewers after almost two years, it was dropped in favor of J’onn becoming a sort-of secret agent for the US government (following the success of the James Bond films and Marvel re-branding Nick Fury as a secret agent).

Having lost his John Jones identity when the Idol-Head of Diabolu emerged, J’onn assumed the guise of wealthy adventurer Marco Xavier whom the Martian witnessed died in a car accident. J’onn as Xavier battled the international criminal organization VULTURE (amidst a fan backlash decrying the bleak direction of J’onn’s character) eventually discovering not only was Xavier alive, he was the mysterious head of VULTURE called Mr. V who faked his death aware he was under surveillance. When J’onn then became Xavier, Mr. V decided to let the masquerade continue in hopes of setting a trap for the Manhunter. When this succeeded, Xavier planned to use an experimental weapon to kill his enemy only to seemingly disintegrate himself. The resolution of this story was the end of a two year journey of the Martian Manhunter as a secret agent. More importantly, it was the end of a thirteen year run of continuous solo Martian Manhunter stories when the character was taken out of House of Mystery (the series reverting to a Horror anthology again).

The pages of Justice League of America would introduce the android Red Tornado who took the place of Martian Manhunter when he returned to Mars. Continuity was re-arranged such that J’onn’s time on Earth was purposeful as something for him to do while he was exiled from Martian society for thirteen years by its white Martian leader Commander Blanx. When his sentence ended, J’onn simply used Erdel’s device to go home. Further changes included, like Kryptonians in a manner, Martians had no powers on their planet and Earth’s science was in fact more advanced than that of Mars. When J’onn returned home, most of his race was wiped out by Blanx and he begged the League to help him save his planet’s last survivors. The League bested Blanx as a space-faring vessel J’onn oversaw construction of being built saved remnants of Martian society who landed on the planet Vonn to begin anew as Mars II. For about sixteen years, the Martian Manhunter had disappeared from DC Comics with only a handful of guest appearances during that time. A writer emerged who had an idea for a new character named J’em who would be J’onn J’onzz’s cousin that fled to Earth following a coup by the White Martians on Mars II.

A maxi-series called “Jemm, Son of Mars” was produced but ran into a major editorial snag. About the same time Jemm was set to hit stands, a storyline was in the pipeline having not only Martian Manhunter return to the Justice League, but a war between Earth and Mars II with its Green Martians. Jemm was hastily reworked into Jemm, Son of Saturn as J’em went from being a Green Martian to Red Saturnian in conflict with White Saturnians (with his cousin J’onn instead then Jogarr). As mentioned, J’onn returned and following the end of the “Earth/Mars War” storyline, he was yet again an exile from his people. Shortly thereafter came what many consider the Justice League’s worst incarnation in the Detroit era. This turn saw disgust by Aquaman about how many Leaguers were unable to devote significant effort toward League duties. So, only full time Leaguers were permitted as Aquaman took over the team seeing the likes of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, and Green Lantern booted out in favor of Elongated Man, Zatanna, Martian Manhunter, and new recruits Vixen, Gypsy, Steel, and Vibe. In reality, DC Comics saw its position as the industry’s leader continue to shrink as Marvel was attracting the youth with franchises like Spider-Man and the X-Men (Marvel moving ahead of DC in sales in the 1970s). The Detroit League was an effort to attract young readers with young characters of different skin colors and backgrounds. The group hobbled along for a couple years (Aquaman leaving after a few issues as J’onn assumed leadership) before Steel and Vibe were killed off and the Justice League was reshuffled in wake of the Legends event (DC’s first event following the Crisis on Infinite Earths).

Following Crisis, it was decided the trinity (Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman) would retroactively be taken out of the Justice League of America. Not only were the trio not founders, editors didn’t want the three to be in the current or upcoming post-Legends incarnation of the group. Writers Keith Giffen and J. M. DeMatteis were brought on initially with a desire to return to the seven founding members only to learn the circumstances with the trinity as well as the Flash and Aquaman were also off-limits. Batman editor Denny O’Neil however took pity on the crew and allowed them Batman. Considering their Big 7 concept was wiped out, the writing duo decided to make the series comical instead of its traditional serious tone. Because of this, Green Lantern editor Andy Helfer recommended Guy Gardner over Hal Jordan as the team’s Lantern which the pair accepted. The team consisted of Batman and Martian Manhunter with Guy Gardner, Black Canary, Captain Marvel, Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, Doctor Fate, Mister Miracle, and Doctor Light (editorial would shortly thereafter pull Marvel from the book in an attempt to relaunch his franchise). Among the dysfunctional group, Martian Manhunter served as the straight man amongst the hilarity (initially led by Batman, the Dark Knight turned over the reins to J’onn as leader a short time later).

The Manhunter from Mars himself was changed by Crisis, now the last survivor of Mars, his weakness to fire actually a psychological fear of fire, his true form a tall, thin humanoid (opposed to his beetle-browed appearance being his true form), and while the current age of superheroes depicted in DC Comics was relatively new (circa-late 1980s), J’onn retroactively operated on Earth in secret since the 1950s (as his Mars II backstory was wiped out and Manhunter assumed Superman’s historical role in the League, J’onn retroactively was the group’s longest serving member). Also, Erdel had in fact survived his encounter with J’onn. Manhunter’s post-Crisis origins would be explored in his own 1988 mini-series.

]]>http://comicartcommunity.com/2014/06/heart-justice-manhunter-mars/feed/0Investing In Comics – May 2014http://comicartcommunity.com/2014/06/investing-comics-may-2014/
http://comicartcommunity.com/2014/06/investing-comics-may-2014/#commentsSun, 01 Jun 2014 19:58:10 +0000http://comicartcommunity.com/?p=3451Investing In Comics by Terry Hoknes This article was reprinted by permission from Terry Hoknes of Hoknes Comics and Collectibles Top 200 Hottest Comic Titles and recent Back Issues during LATE MAY 2014 Bi-weekly column and list compiled by comics historian Terry Hoknes of www.HoknesComics.com – hoknes@hotmail.com This chart is styled like the old classic […]

Top 200 Hottest Comic Titles and recent Back Issues during LATE MAY 2014

This chart is styled like the old classic Wizard Magazine Top 10 Hottest Comic charts that were published every month in the 1990′s.

This list is updated every 2 weeks. This list is compiled from my non-stop research of the current market. I believe these were the most demand and growing in value books this month. This list focuses on all regular edition covers. (Variants are not listed otherwise they would likely dominate the entire list due to instant high prices and calculated small print runs). If you think I have missed any hot MODERN titles/issues please let me know. Here are my picks of what I believe are the hottest comics at this very moment from all sold out releases of MODERN comics online based on back issue sales ABOVE cover price.

Note these are all the “hot” recent sold comics that your comic shops will not have still on the shelf for cover price. However many speculators will hunt their local comic shops looking for that “hot” book that is still on the shelf – sometimes you find them!

This market report is based on very current constant online sales. Number of sales online above cover and the amount above cover price are the criteria I use for ranking books highest on the list.

(If you spot an error or a forgotten book/price please let me know)

MARKET REPORT:

#1 SUPERMAN ADVENTURES #4 #5 #22 #23 #65 #66 (DC 1996) DC female villain Livewire is the hottest back issue series and her first 6 appearances all happened in this smaller print Superman title from the 1990’s aimed at younger readers. All issues are hot with sales of #4 up to $50.00 and #5 up to $125.00 a high sale on #23 so far at $16.00

#2 ORDINARY #1 (TITAN 2014) New mini-series with very small print run heated up instantly with many sales the week of release up to $14.00 each

#3 ACTION COMICS #835 (DC 2006) 1st app of female Livewire in regular DC universe. Recent hot book and prices increasing quickly now at about $13.00 2nd-4th appearances are in issues #839 and #842 which should all sell out easily.

#4 ITTY BITTY BUNNIES IN RAINBOW PIXIE CANDY LAND #1 (2014) Very small print indie had a regular and a Action Comics #1 swipe variant cover. Both had print runs of only about 1,000 copies and prices jumped dramatically the week of release up to $20.00 each even before Diamond sold out.

#5 THE WALKING DEAD (Image) #127 was the first truly hot key issue since #108 a year earlier. #127 began a new storyline with new direction and new character and up to $13.00 a copy a week after release with 2nd printing on the the way. #53 is super hot with the introduction of another comic character into the TV series. #108 1st app Ezekiel and #110 origin and battle of Ezekiel with Michonne. All back issues #1-110 are sold out and bring above cover prices. #92 and #93 extremely hot at $30.00 each. Retailers upped their orders yet again starting with #109 onwards after the sellout of #108. This is the highest print runs have ever been (not counting #100). By May 2014 the more recent issues #100-108 had doubled in price with #108 now at $22.00. Demand in spring of 2014 grew strong on speculation for issues #60-70 as the TV series approached those issues.

#6 HAUNTED (RED 5 2014) #1 new horror series small print run of 1,800 copies sold out instantly both #1 and #2. Both issues have sold for $10 each and reports of a new movie based on the comic help sales.

#7 PAX ROMANA #1 (IMAGE 2007) Older image title from Jonathan Hickman heated up like crazy in May 2014 as high as $60.00 a copy when TV Show news were announced.

#8 SAGA OF SWAMP THING #25 (1984) 1st cameo appearance ever of John Constantine became hot once TV show news became official in April 2014.

#9 MOON KNIGHT (MARVEL 2014) #1 and #2 are both in 2nd printings and sporadic sales prices but some sales up to $10.00 each.

#10 SAGA OF SWAMP THING #67 (1987) 1st appearance of Hellblazer in preview heated up with new Constantine TV Show news in May 2014.

#11 GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY (Marvel 2008) Entire run is super hot due to interest in upcoming movie. #1 hit new high close to $150 by May 2014 however all non-key issues bring anywhere from $5 to $15 each.

#12 HENCHMEN #1 (2014) New ongoing small indie publisher sold out everywhere instantly sending prices up to $12.00 each week of release.

#13 SCALPED (DC 2011) #43 is first appearance of characters from the new sold out Image title Southern Bastards #1 (2014) and once this became common knowledge prices jumped in late May so far up to $12.00 a copy.

#14 BAD DREAMS #1-2 (RED 5 2014) New mini-series had very small print run and sales of both issues up to $10.00 each

#15 PLANETOID #1 (IMAGE 2012) Previous Image series became hotter and hotter in late May 2014 hitting up to $10.00 a copy with new TV news.

#16 V-WARS #1 (DYNAMITE 2014) Regular cover sales jumped to $10.00 each immediately with news of a new tv series and a 2nd printing was on the way.

#17 SATELLITE SAM TIJUANA BIBLE (IMAGE 2014) To boost sales of regular #8 a special 8 page black and white graphic sex promo comic was given out to retailers. The comic was not even shipped to the UK due to content causing strong demand and instant sales as high as $45.00 a copy week of release.

#18 SOUTHERN BASTARDS #1 (IMAGE 2014) Pre-sales were super strong and within days of release the comic had reached $12.00 for first printings leading to an instant 2nd printing announcement. Two weeks after release sales hit $20.00

#19 NAILBITER (IMAGE 2014) #1 sold out in advance of release and within first week of release copies hit $10.00 for new ongoing series about serial killers.

#20 BRASS SUN #1 (2014) New indie came out in late May and instant sales up to $10 each

#21 DRY SPELL #1 (2014) New indie came out in late May and instant sales up to $10 each

#22 JOAN OF ARC PROLOGUE #1 (2014) New indie came out in late May and instant sales up to $10 each

#23 LEGEND OF BOLD RILEY #1 (2014) New indie came out in late May and instant sales up to $10 each

#24 NECROMANTICAL (ARRDEN 2014) #1 sold out immediately due to very small print run and horror title hit $10.00 week of release.

#25 EPIC #1 (COMIXTRIBE 2014) #1 sold out immediately due to very small print run and title hit $10.00 week of release.

#26 GHOSTED #9 (IMAGE 2014) 1st app of Nailbiter in this issue caused a sell out and sales up to $15.00 in early May 2014.

#27 DR. STENSON PRESENTS SANITARIUM (2014) #1 mini comic based on a real horror movie had small print run selling out instantly and hitting high of $15.00 week of release.

#28 AFTERLIFE WITH ARCHIE #1 (ARCHIE 2013) 4 regular covers and 52 variant exclusive store covers made this the hottest new comic released recently and many sales as high as 3x guide for certain covers sold individually. Rumour of a new movie based on this series helps keep the demand high. Sales up to $20.00 for #1 or $50.00 for a set of the 4 covers of #1. #2 now sells for $10.00

#29 TRANSMETROPOLITAN #23 (DC VERTIGO 1999) DC adult title from 15 yrs ago that featured a preview of “100 Bullets” which is now announced as a new TV/movie in the works. Sales recently up to $20.00 Preview also appeared in Preacher #51.

#30 PREACHER (DC 1995) Once the hottest back issue almost 20 years ago and word of a new tv/movie in the works saw back issues reach for highest prices ever for #1. A raw copy hit $385.00 on Nov 24th 2013. #13 with 1st Herr Starr super hot selling up to $65.00 a copy in speculation of appearing in the new TV series. Issue #51 later also became super hot with a 100 Bullets preview.

#31 WEIRD LOVE (IDW 2014) New pre-code 1950’s horror romance theme book small print run and some sales immediately higher than cover. 2nd printing came out a month later and 1st prints up to $7.00 each

#32 WOODS (BOOM 2014) #1 new ongoing series sold out quickly at Diamond and quickly went to 2nd printing with regular covers selling a bit above cover and high demand for variant covers.

#33 MS MARVEL (MARVEL 2014) #1 1st printing of #1-2 both sold out and interest high in new Muslim superhero and prices hit high of $27.00 for #1 regular cover and tons of sales around $10.00 recently.

#34 DEAD LETTERS (BOOM 2014) #1 1st printing sold out immediately and hit a high of $18.00 a copy week of release before cooling a bit.

#35 WORMWOOD GENTLEMEN CORPSE (2006) This older series became hot in April 2014 with sporadic high sales.

#36 MANIFEST DESTINY (IMAGE 2013) Hottest Image title of the past year with #1 selling up to $50.00. #2-3 both approaching $20 each. Reprint sets even selling very strong. 4 printings of #1 all above cover price.

#37 INVINCIBLE #110 (IMAGE 2014) Media report of Robert Kirkman talking about the rape in the story caused a sellout and instant overnight hit on April 11th 2014 with online sales hitting up to $40.00 immediately before cooling down. Interest in issue #44 started shortly after for the first app of Anissa – the villain who does the raping.

#38 EPIC ILLUSTRATED #3 (MARVEL 1980) 1st app of Dreadstar in this common magazine became super hot in early April 2014 with numerous sales of $100.00 each and one copy hit $200.00 raw.

#39 RUNAWAYS (MARVEL 2003) Brian K Vaughan (Saga) decade old Marvel series has been hot all year long with a high of $80.00 for #1.

#40 LUMBERJANES (BOOM 2014) #1 and #2 both sold out fairly quick and went to 2nd printings causing interest to grow and prices at about $6.00 within a month of release and mini-series now announced to be an ongoing series.

#41 INVINCIBLE #111 (IMAGE 2014) Start of a new direction but smaller print run led a quick sellout of all covers and even the regular cover was up to $8.00 a week after release in the storyline followup to the rape in the issue before.

#42 FBCD 2014 MOUSE GUARD (ARCHAIA 2014) This free comic book came in hard cover and had huge demand hitting $13.00 the week after it hit stores

#43 FBCD 2014 GIANT SIZED ACTION TESLA AND 3 OTHER COMICS SEALED (RED GIANT ENTERTAINMENT 2014) This free comic book day package was free but sales up to $20.00 the week after it hit stores

#49 BUNKER (ONI 2014) #1-2. Reports of a TV show in the works before #1 was even released made this a hot sellout instantly with sales for the regular cover and the 1:10 hitting record sales within days of release. Highest sales so far are $15.00 for regular cover and $19.00 for variant cover. Many retailers were able to sell their copies instantly marked up. #2 was another instant sellout and quickly hit up to $10.00 per copy.

#51 LAST BROADCAST #1 (BOOM 2014) Smaller print run and not an immediate sellout but sales picked up to $7.00 within the month of release.

#52 DREDD UNDERBELLY (TITAN 2014) One-shot based on new movie was underprinted and overlooked by most retailers and prices hit $16.00 the week of release in January 2014 but continued to be hot after a month reaching a high of $50.00. 2nd print came out a month later and sales all over the board from low to high but many high sales up to $30.00 each.

#53 AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #1 (MARVEL 2014) 45 different variant covers led the biggest selling comic of the year with a release date of April 30th with 700,000 copies printed. The most demanded variant cover was the promo Gamestop cover hitting a high of $459.00 and an amazing $1,300 for a special limited signed graded edition the day of release.

#54 CAPTAIN AMERICA #6 and #14 (MARVEL 2006) #6 1st full app of Winter Soldier to star in the new Captain America movie has interest high hitting a peak of $30.00 plus there is a variant cover as well. #14 features a classic cover and the origin of Winter Soldier and hit a high of $50.00. The real 1st app is in the common issue #1.

#55 HARLEY QUINN (DC 2013) #0 1 2 – all sold out and have 2nd printings. Sets selling especially well up to $30 for #0-4 1st prints. #1 many sales at $8.00

#57 SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN #30 (MARVEL 2014) the Return of Peter Parker took readers by surprise and issue sold out instantly and some sales up to $10.00 each for 1st prints the month before Amazing Spider-man #1 reboots.

#58 GREEN LANTERN (DC 2014) #28 Red Lanterns – Daughter storyline with Supergirl sold out and gone to 2nd printing. Many sales up to $10.00 each.

#59 THE STRAIN (Dark Horse) 12 issue mini-series becomes due to potential TV series. This book has been hot off an on for a year now and latest prices have pushed it up to $60.00 for #1 based on new TV show talk.

#64 EVIL EMPIRE (BOOM 2014) #1 Slowly picking up steam and some sales as high as $10.00

#65 FIELD (IMAGE 2014) #1 sold out in advance of release at Diamond and some copies selling above cover.

#66 DC STEAMPUNK 1:25 VARIANT EDITIONS (DC FEB 2014) Many of DC’s main core titles had a 1:25 variant ratio with a steampunk theme and #28 issues of Batman, Wonder Woman, Justice League Dark, Batgirl, Detective, Nightwing and Harley Quinn #3 all were selling at record prices due to extra high demand as high as $50.00 each. Wonder Woman #28 was the hottest hitting a high of $85.00

#67 BATMAN #1-9 – Most issues from #3-9 sell averaging $20-$30 each and #1 sells for up to $60.00. Complete sets of #1-10 bring $150.00. Batman is the #1 selling regular monthly comic book these days and it is the most valuable “complete set” of all current titles.

#68 SUPERMAN: MAN OF STEEL (DC 1992) #17 first cameo appearance of Doomsday who eventually killed Superman a month later. This issue had much smaller print run than the hyped up Superman issues once Superman died. Two printings exist and many charging more for the 2nd printing. In past month sales jumped as high as $50.00 and $100.00 for the 2nd printing raw.

#69 SUICIDE SQUAD (DC 2011) New ongoing series features Harley Quinn including some new origin issues. All early issues sold out and sets selling quite high. #1,6,7 are major key issues selling up to $30.00 each.

#70 TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES – GLOBAL CONQUEST MINI-SERIES #1-5 – These printings seem to have disappeared and the few sales that appear if marketed correctly bring $20.00 an issue.

#71 SCATTERBRAIN #1-4 (2006) This small indie mini-series from 8 years ago features the first appearance of The Devil’s Hopyard and a complete set sold for $30.00 soon after the release of Devils Hopyard.

#72 SEX CRIMINALS (IMAGE 2013) #1 has 6 printings all sold out and all early issues sold out and commanding higher prices. 4th printing of #1 had a very small print run and a fun photo cover which had high demand and prices hit $20.00 immediately.

#73 DEVIL’S HOPYARD #1 (ARRDEN 2014) New small print #1 sold out instantly sales up to $15.00 within 3 days of release.

#74 BLACK SCIENCE (IMAGE 2013) #1 sold out and some early sales up to $9.00 per each of the 2 regular covers. #2 sold out instantly from Diamond and stores appeared to be shorted everywhere and copies hit up to $25.00 each immediately for the 2 covers.

#75 GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY (MARVEL 2013) New ongoing series – new movie in the works for next year. Early issues #0.1, 1, 2 had very high print runs and then retailers pulled back. Issues #3 and #4 instantly sold out and both have 2nd printings. Sets now all sell above cover.

#76 WWE ONGOING (2014) New ongoing series based on World Wrestling federation sports characters. #1 had 4 regular covers which now sell for up to $50.00 for a set of 5 including the Undertaker variant. Undertaker was very popular bringing at least $15.00 on its own.

#77 SUPERMAN: MAN OF STEEL #18 (DC 1992) The first full appearance of Doomsday who would kill Superman in the same storyline a month later. Rumours of Doomsday being in the next Superman movie has helped drive a ton of interest in his early appearances. Sales up to $30.00 for this one. There are 5 printings and the 5th printing is the rarest with the highest asked prices online.

#80 GOTHAM CITY SIRENS (DC 2009) Harley Quinn is super hot and demand is strong for this older title.

#81 HARLEY QUINN #1-38 (DC 2000) Harley Quinn is the hottest character currently from the last 20 years and seems almost any appearance of the character is up in value and demand this year. First and last year bringing the most interest.

#82 FUTURAMA (BONGO 2000) #1 and #2 lead the pack with sales of $25.00 or higher for these TV show inspired series which is still running after 14 years and 70 issues.

#83 WARRIOR #1 (2006) When the ultimate warrior died in April 2014 demand for this back issue skyrocketed up to $100.00 a copy.

#84 QUEEN AND COUNTRY (ONI 2001) #1 now with a few high sales up to $10.00 for this decade old series now potentially a new movie in the future.

#85 SHELTERED #1 (IMAGE 2013) Series reported in Jan 2014 to be a new TV series saw new interest with #1′s selling constantly at $10.00

#86 MERCENARY SEA (IMAGE 2014) #1 came out in Feb – it was one of 4 hot speculator books the same week but it wasnt hot until after a few days and then caught fire at up to $15.00 a copy within a week of release and immediately went to a 2nd printing.

#87 X-FILES CONSPIRACY (IDW 2014) There are a few series and the rarer 1:25 ratio variants are super hot selling between $25 and $60 each.

#88 DMZ (DC 2006) #1-72. DC Vertigo series from creator Brian Wood is reported in early Feb 2014 coming to SyFy channel. With the announcement of Sandman movie, and the iZombie TV show and now DMZ. Andre and Maria Jacquemetton, both of whom previously collaborated on “Mad Men” for AMC, are set to produce. Copies of #1 hit a high of $40.00 in early Feb 2014.

#89 MIGHTY AVENGERS #3 VARIANT (MARVEL 2013) This variant cover featuring rapper Eminem has been super hot and brought up to $100.00 for this 1:25 ratio variant which has stayed hot after months.

#90 SAGA #1-12 #1 still super hot at about $80 down from peak of $100 – all issues in demand even with high print runs. #12 was hot for a moment when banned by Apple. Print runs have gone up the last 5 issues in a row. #12 has a much larger print run than #1. After The Walking Dead sensation Saga is always Image’s best selling title.

#91 HOUSE OF MYSTERY ANNUAL #1 (DC VERTIGO 2009) This DC classic title was brought back as a halloween annual and featured the first appearance of IZombie. Print run was much smaller on this high cover price book. High sale of $80.00 for this one recently.
164, House of Mystery Halloween Annual, 1, $4.99, DC, 11,127

#92 ALIAS #1 (MARVEL MAX 2002) Decade old series announced to be turned into a new TV series drove demand up quickly with prices hitting $34.00 for #1. Not to be confused with a different TV show from last decade with the same title. Demand for the character also brought renewed interest for the Spider-man series Pulse featuring Alias but prices have not yet gone up.

#93 IZOMBIE (DC VERTIGO 2009) #1-28 Series became hot in early November when news of a tv/movie show was potentially in the worls and all related issues have become hot sellers. #1 frequently selling for $20.00 each. The series lasted 28 issues and sales had dropped down to 7500 copies by the last issue #28.
60, Izombie, 1, $1.00, DC, 33,025

107, Izombie, 2, $2.99, DC, 18,620

237, Izombie, 28, $2.99, DC, 7,507

#94 SANDMAN (DC VERTIGO 1989) #1 – Reports of a movie caused new interest in this key DC 80′s book so we are sneaking it on the chart. Sales over $100.00 in late Dec 2013.

#95 LETTER 44 (ONI 2013) #1 came out as a $1.00 book and yet early reviews were so great that the book sold out and now selling at $6.00

#96 BATMAN: VENGEANCE OF BANE #1 (DC 1992) There are 3 printings of the 1st app of Bane in this rare one-shot selling at $40.00

#97 NEW MUTANTS #98 (MARVEL 1991) 1st app of Deadpool – the hottest Marvel character of the 1990′s.

#98 LIFE WITH ARCHIE #23 (ARCHIE 2012) There are 2 covers and the 2nd cover is a horror theme and the first appearance on cover only of the “Afterlife With Archie” zombie theme which is now an ongoing series. 2nd cover hit $30.00 a year after release.

#99 SIMPSON COMICS AND STORIES (BONGO 1993) #1 early one-shot comic and 1st full app of The Simpsons in comics

#100 SIMPSON COMICS #1 (BONGO 1993) First issue of ongoing series and many following issues now in higher demand by TV fans.

OTHER PAST TITLES THAT USED TO BE HOT BUT HAVE COOLED A BIT OR SETTLED IN PRICE THAT RANK BELOW THE TOP 100

PRETTY DEADLY (IMAGE 2013) #1 sold out and some early sales sporadic up to $6.00. Many sales reports of #2 and #3 for above cover as high as $8.00 each.

THE WAKE (DC VERTIGO 2013) Each issue has been reprinted finally driving up prices after 2 months out on #1. Currently at $8.00 for #1 1st prints.

CAPTAIN MARVEL (MARVEL 2013) #17 Final issue features a cameo at the end of the new muslim Ms Marvel who gets her own new series next year. Sold out quick and went to 2nd printing. Copies so far up to $8.00

BATMAN INCORPORATED (DC) #8 Death of Robin hit about $13 now settled at $9.99

29, Batman Incorporated, 8, $2.99, DC, 55,414

69, Batman Incorporated, 8, 2nd printing $2.99, DC, 34,679

BATMAN 66 #1 (DC 2013) Print run was moderate but not large based on the TV series from 47 years earlier. Hit a high of $6.00

33 Batman 66 1 $3.99 DC 50,430

A VOICE IN THE DARK (Kickstarter Edition) This early original printing came out before Image Comics put out the official series. Copies hit a high of $60.00 on Nov 24th 2013. Regular Image edition has sold out but not yet risen.

LEGENDS #3 (DC 1986) Common 80′s mini-series with 1st app of Modern Suicide Squad which is getting media attention, not only in the Arrow TV series, but a stand alone script that hit the internet. Prices hit up to $15.00 for this 60 cent book.

AMERICAN VAMPIRE (DC VERTIGO 2010) #1 New series helped boost interest in earlier series. Sales recently of $25.00 for #1.

THE LAST OF US (DARK HORSE) – 4 issue mini-series all issues instant sellouts and tie-in to video game. All issues are sold out and Diamond has sold out of #4 a month before its release. Currently all 3 1st print issues are selling for on average $23.00 EACH ! #3 hit a high of $41.00 the week of release. Print runs of issues #1-3 are very low. Print run of #4 jumped way up and is a common book. Complete set of 4 issues hit high of $160.00 in early July. I sold a few sets at $100.00. Only #1 has had a reprint so far and that 2nd printing might be so rare that it did not chart which means likely a print run of less than 3,000 copies. Reprints were scheduled by Dark Horse for #1-3 and then cancelled but now just came out. Prices dropped down after the series was done.

Last of Us American Dreams, 1, $3.99, Dark Horse, 6,012
Last of Us American Dreams, 2, $3.99, Dark Horse, 4,991
Last of Us American Dreams, 3, $3.99, Dark Horse, 5,014
Last of Us American Dreams, 4, $3.99, Dark Horse, 7,138

DAY MEN #1 (BOOM 2013) New ongoing series – #1 sold out instantly – kept rising during early August and then new movie news and the world went nuts for this book. I received long distance calls for this book and so did other local comic shops as people wanted to buy this book in major multiples. Hit a high of $20.00 and then online got flooded with too many copies and prices settled now at $9.00.

CRYPTOZOIC MAN #1 (IDW 2013) At first the title did not even sell out but eventually did and then went to a 2nd printing and continuous promotion on the Comic Book Men TV series led demand to grow and grow. A #1-2 set regular print cover sold for $41.00 this week.

Y THE LAST MAN (DC 2000) Brian K Vaughan rumours of a potential new movie started brewing but not yet confirmed. Authors popular series once again in demand as his current series Saga continues to dominate in current popularity.

ANNE BONNIE (2014) Promo retailers advance copy selling up to $12.00 in advance of the regular #1 issue that came out in March 2014.

SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN (DYNAMITE 2014) #1 All covers sold out and gone to 2nd printing. Subscription cover most popular a bit above cover.

MAGNETO (MARVEL 2014) #1 1st print run sold out and numerous sales in $5-6 range so far

AUTEUR (ONI 2014) #1 small print run and some interest above cover in sets.

STEAM WARS (ANTARCTIC PRESS 2013) Unique new series done in steampunk style but tells a new variation of the George Lucas Star Wars movie storyline featuring characters and storyline and artwork that is definitely borrowed and parodies from the original sci-fi movie. Small print and demand growing for #1 and #2. #1 did not even make Top 300 chart with sales less than 2400.

362, Steam Wars, 1, $3.99, Antarctic, 2,399

RUSH CLOCKWORK ANGELS #1 (BOOM 2014) Rock band drummer Neil Peart wrote his first comic book and sales to non-comic collectors were up to $8.00 immediately even before release online.

SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN #20 VARIANT (MARVEL 2013) Normally I do not include variants if they just have a predictable higher market value due to small print run but I am including this issue as its truly a hot issue climbing in value and selling way more than expected for the print run. Currently at about $70.00 instead of an estimated $25.00 for a 1:50 variant.

CATWOMAN #23 (DC 2013) 1st appearance of Joker’s Daughter appears in the last page and is a prelude to her big appearance coming up soon in the 3D DC Villain take over month. Prices hit $13.00 the day of release.

HENRY AND GLENN FOREVER AND EVER (2013) #1 and #2 and #3 are small digest sized indie comics in black and white. Very small print runs and the stories are making fun of real life 1980′s hard rock stars Glenn Danzig and Henry Rollins of Black Flag. They appear to be gay lovers in the story. Rock stars Hall and Oates also appear in the series as their satanic worshiping neighbors. Series appeals to non-comic fans and most sellers getting a bit above cover.

RED STAR (IMAGE 2000) Older series with recent news of potential TV show in the works shot prices up as high as $20.00 for #1 in early Feb 2014.

HONEY WEST & THE CAT (2013) A 2 issue mini-series combining 2 different classic 1960′s TV show characters into one mystery tale. The series shipped 6 months late but came out and the #2 photo cover was in hot demand as stores ordered very few copies. In fact #2 was split between 2 covers with a print run of only 600 copies each. Photo cover was extra popular selling up to $15.00 immediately.

BAD ASS (DYNAMITE 2014) #1 has sold for $5.00 but the 1:10 variant features a homage to the 1st app of Deadpool in New Mutants #98 and is very popular at $23.00

OUTLIERS #1 (2013) Indie comic self published with financing. Highest ratings online for story and art. Super small print run. More and more hype every week and a print run of less than 1800 copies kept prices continually rising up and currently at $50.00. We helped bring awareness to this amazing book before release date. Strong popularity kept prices high on this one after 2 months.

X-FILES SEASON 10 #1 and #2 both sold out instantly (IDW) #1 2013 – brand new release sold out instantly and regular cover bringing a bit above cover constantly.

94, X-Files Season 10, 1, $3.99, IDW, 24,270

SKYWARD #0-3 (2010) Originally a self published mini series in 2010. (3 years before the new ongoing series). Jeremy Dale self-published the first three issues a few years ago. These black and white “Graphite Editions” have sold on eBay for over $300 for a set of 0-3 in the last few weeks. A number 1 Graphite sells for around $100.

DRUMHELLAR (IMAGE 2013) #1 sold out and some early sales up to $8.00

SLEEPERS #1 (WILDSTORM 2002) Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips – decade old series now picked up for a new movie from Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. Prices hit $10.00 in early December 2013.

DEATH SENTENCE (TITAN 2013) New series in Oct 2013 sold out instantly and selling a bit above cover. Both #1 and #2 have gone to 2nd print.

WILDWORK #1 (ANTARCTIC PRESS 2013) New mini-series based on Dracula in the old west by Eric Red and Ben Dunn. Very small print run and most retailers did not even order copies. Sold copies up to $20.00 within first week and more online speculator market reports hype this up as the #1 best pick at the moment.

SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN #1-31 every issue seems to sell out at retail and gets a 2nd printing but not going up in value due to large print runs. Peter Parker ghost gone in #9 – series might last longer than originally expected. Readers very happy with this series.

47 RONIN (DARK HORSE 2012) 5 issue mini-series recently came out as a movie and drew interest up as high as $25 for #1.

TRILLIUM (DC VERTIGO 2013) Rave reviews helped sell out this high print run Vertigo title and sell above guide online even before Diamond was sold out. Now copies at $10.00

INJUSTICE GODS AMONG US (DC) – the hottest DC title of 2013 with small print runs and 3rd prints selling out. Peaked in May at $85.00 for set of #1-4 Many sellers with reprint sets that also sell well. #1 2nd printing hit $12.00 #1 $40 #2 $25 #3 $8 #4 $5 #5-6 $4. I predicted this could be a hit when I saw the initial print run numbers so low and yet featuring major characters Batman, Joker, Superman, Wonder Woman etc. Print runs peaked with #6 and are now leveling out.

TODD THE UGLIEST KID ON EARTH (Image) #1 hit high of $20 immediately in January week of release and then settled down. Smaller print run. Mini-series #1-4 is sold out and will become ongoing soon from Image with #5 coming out in a month. News of a new tv/movie reported on July 13th made the #1 a super hot comic instantly with sales as high as $60 in July but then cooled down again. #1 and #2 have a 2nd print which are both rarer typically in print run than the originals.

ADVENTURE TIME – animated cartoon series – numerous printings now. #1 is truly rare – no sellers on ebay even have a copy for sale. $50 to $100 per copy of #1 first print. #2 currently in the $20-30 range. #3 $10. #1-6 have been reprinted with connecting cover image. #1-6 and #9-10 sold out from diamond.

ALL CRIME COMICS (2013) Small crime indie title with very small print run has sold out #1 and #2 with above cover sales.

FOX #1 (ARCHIE / RED CIRCLE 2013) New series with 4 different regular covers. Some selling as high as $12.00 each in first week. Fiona Staples artist of Saga did one of the 4 covers. In late October 2013 Archie comics for the first time possibly ever held down the top 3 spots of hottest new sold out comics.

EAST OF WEST (Image) #1 Hot as a pre-seller and now sells up to $12.00. 4th printing already and sets of #1-4 sell really well. This is a rare modern example of a comic with a huge print run that still sells out due to popularity and goes to reprints on every issue. It’s the “2013″ version of Saga in terms of popularity. All 5 issues have gone to 2nd prints.
35, East of West, 1*, $3.50, Image, 49,518
193, East of West, 1 2nd printing $3.50, Image, 9,742
296, East of West, 1 3rd printing, $3.50, Image, 5,024
46, East of West, 2*, $3.50, Image, 41,838
54, East of West, 3*, $3.50, Image, 39,441

THE SIXTH GUN (Oni) – All 31 issues sold out – many not even on ebay and low print runs. Sold a #1 for $250 in Mid April. #1 now at $90.00. Prices have dropped by about 70% since their peak from April 2013 when the news of the potential TV show was at its highest hype. Still some of the rarest comics to collect will keep prices and sales up on this title. The image speculating boom peaked by April 2013 and orders were raised drastically on issues #30-32 which were the highest since issue #2 three years earlier.

NUMBERCRUNCHER #1 (TITAN 2013) New miniseries from small publisher sold out instantly – nobody has copies for sale.

Did not even chart on the monthly Top 300. High sale of $13.00. #3 sold out even before day of release.

EXTINCTION PARADE (Avatar) 4 different covers – high quality format similar to Uber. Online pre-sales were doing well above cover. Print run of each cover was less than 5,000 each. In November talk of a TV show heated up the series a little bit.

136, Extinction Parade, 1, $3.99, Avatar, 16,061

FARLAINE THE GOBLIN #1 (STUDIO FARLAINE 2013) New small print publisher – possibly smallest distributed comic of the year with print run of only 1350. Two versions of #1 exist as an early promo copy was sent out only to retailers with a print run of only 250 copies. Both versions sold out before release date at Diamond. Copies hit a high of $40.00 within first week of release. We helped bring awareness to this amazing book before release date. Prices cooled down after a few weeks.

NOWHERE MEN (Image) #1-3 prices had peaked at $40,25,15 in March. Set of #1-5 now sells for $60.00 #1 $30 / #2 $20 / #3 $10 / #4 $3 / #5 $3. Note the print run increases for #4 and then #5. #1 already has a 5th printing – with so many reprints of all issues on the market its hard to sell the reprints at any price currently.172 Nowhere Men 1 $2.99 Image 11815 2012 11 213 Nowhere Men 2 $2.99 Image 7368 2012 12209, Nowhere Men, 3, $2.99, Image, 7,421
150, Nowhere Men, 4, $2.99, Image, 13,368
141,Nowhere Men, 5, $2.99, Image, 15,608
MYTHOPOLIS #1 (ARRDEN 2013) #1 small print publisher printed 4 regular covers very limited. Comic was delayed as the early variant covers came out 6 months ahead of time and the regular #1 shipped 3 months past original scheduling date. Copies in first week of release sold as high as $20.00 each for regular cover #1A. We helped bring awareness to this amazing book before release date.
THIEF OF THIEVES #1-12 Early issues still super hot – value peaked in January but still selling well

RACHEL RISING (Abstract) #1-16 TV announcement this week helped drive demand up as Diamond sold out of even the current issue not yet out this week. #1 hitting $200.00 peak around May 1st. Many issues still available direct from publisher website at cover. #1 settled down now to about $50.00. Sellers hyping rarity of 2nd and 3rd printings and getting high amounts as well.

AMAZING SPIDERMAN #700 DITKO VARIANT (MARVEL 2012) Normally I do not include variants if they just have a predictable higher market value due to small print run but I am including this issue as its truly was hotter than normal. It came out in December 2012 featuring the death of Peter Parker. But this rare variant was a 1:200 ratio which usually are worth about $100.00 but by January this comic hit a high peak of $1200.00 making it a record high sales price for any new comic in 2013.

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (Marvel) 698-700 Death of Peter Parker storyline super hot in January – still popular due to storyline continuing in Superior-Spiderman

FABLES (DC/Vertigo) Long running ongoing series recently announced of potential tv/movie so already expensive #1 selling out at bout $70.00 first printings. Series has over 120 issues so lots to collect.

GAMBIT (Marvel 2012) New ongoing series popular #1 $8 #2 $5 but #3 sold out everywhere and current asking price from only online copy is $25.00 !!

IT CAME #1 (2013) Small print mini series issue – sci-fi oriented – Very few retailers ordered it – hit $12.00.

GHOST PROJEKT #1 (ONI 2010) It was announced about Sept 22nd 2013 that the show was optioned for NBC tv series and the 3 year old title became super hot with #1 selling as high as $35.00 each. It has now cooled off and settled more around $15.00

DOCTOR WHO PRISONER OF TIME #1-12 Photo variants. Normally I do not include variants if they just have a predictable higher market value due to small print run but I am including this issue as its truly a hot issue climbing in value and selling way more than expected for the print run. Currently the 1:25 photo cover sells each month on average at about $60.00 instead of an estimated $15.00 for a 1:25 variant.

THE OTHER DEAD (IDW 2013) #1 of the regular and subscription covers sold as sets as high as $18.00 for the pair. The series was delayed in stores potentially due to the controversial 1:10 variant cover featuring President Obama with machine guns which sold way above a typical variant price hitting $40.00

THE MOCKING DEAD #1 (2013) New release comic that sold out instantly and went to 2nd print. Early sales online were all over the place with sales anywhere from $4 to $40 for the subscription cover. Currently a bit above cover for the regular cover and the subscription about $8.00
HALLOWEEN FEST 2013 – Just like Free Comic Book Day, there is an annual Halloween free comic book day on Halloween each year and this year there were 22 giveaway promo comics. Individually most sold instantly at a high price of $5.00 each and a My Little Pony hit $7.00 week of release. Batman, Skyward, Thor, Sonic, Sesame Street, Zombies, Ben 10, Spider-man are some of the titles this year.
WATSON AND HOLMES (NEW PARADIGM 2013) Small print run of 3,800 copies between 2 regular covers sold out instantly and brought sales of up to $50.00 each in first week and then cooled off. Print run was so small that it did not even rank in the Top 300 of the month. Currently #1 sells at above $10 and #2 sells at $7.00. We helped bring awareness to this amazing book before release date.
INJUSTICE YEAR TWO #1 (DC 2014) Injustice Gods Among Us series ended after 12 issues and is retitled in 2014. Some early high sales of #1.
CLONE (IMAGE 2012) On July 15th 2013 it was announced that the new TV series was official and that drove up prices on #1 even though it has a larger print run over 23,000. Diamond still had copies in warehouse up to this news announcement and then sold its last 1,000 copies within days. #1 currently at $10.00 – all issues selling better now and sold out at Diamond. Note how the print run has dropped drastically. Issue #1 has almost 500% the print run of #9.

THINK TANK (Image) #1-5. #1 sold out immediately and no one seems to have a copy. 2nd printings also has very small print run. #1 1st in the $20 range. News of a new movie broke this week which might push prices up.

UBER #0-1-2-3 Sold out printings instantly. Originally I felt this title was being speculated on too heavily but many sales above cover have proven the demand for this series. I personally believe this is the single best looking comic of 2013 with glossy paper and amazing colors and artwork. Some amazing variant covers make it a big job to collect every cover version of each issue. The first issue was #0 and not #1. #0 is the rare ones to find. #0 has a 2nd printing called “enhanced edition”. Print runs on each individual cover are very low. There are 4 regular covers of each issue so when you take the worldwide print runs you have to divide it by 4 to get the real print run of each cover. This makes it more obvious how rare each individual cover is. In fact there are only about 2,700 copies of each cover of the first issue #0. Diamond monthly rankings for each issue and the combined print run of all the covers
178, Uber, 0, $3.99, Avatar, 10,849
292, Uber, 0 Enhanced Ed, $4.99, Avatar, 5,084
137, Uber, 1, $3.99, Avatar, 16,109
132, Uber, 2, $3.99, Avatar, 16,160
188, Uber, 4, $3.99, Avatar, 12,030

STAR WARS: LUCAS DRAFT (DARK HORSE 2013) #1 took a month to sell out but finally did even with high print run and some sporadic sales online up to $7.50
SUPER #1 (UNLIKELY COMICS 2013) Small kickstarter title with above cover sales.
CHRONOS COMMANDOS #1 (TITAN 2013) Small print run small publisher instant sell out – Both issues #1 and #2 have sold as high as $12.00 each. Neither issue even charted on the monthly Top 300 Diamond sales. Nazi soldiers and dinosaurs !! We helped bring awareness to this great comic before release date.
LEGION OF MOLLY DOVES #1 (2013) New small print indie publisher storyline about time travel. Only one early sale online so far at $9.00
DEXTER (MARVEL 2013) #1 and #2 sold out with small print run based on the violent TV show. Immediate increases on #1.
WILD BLUE YONDER (IDW) #1 and #2 both sold out instantly 2013 – brand new release sold out instantly and regular cover bringing above cover quickly.

184, Wild Blue Yonder, 1, $3.99, IDW, 10,840

TRINITY OF SIN: PANDORA #1 (DC 2013) New mini-series inspiring the Trinity DC crossover storyline for summer 2013 sold out and quickly went to 2nd printing and copies selling as high as $11.00 for regular edition.

CONSTANTINE #1 (DC 2013) 1st print sold out in the first month but took about 6 months to sell above cover. Some sales at $7.00 for this new Hellblazer inspired series. New TV show reports could drive this one up.

HELHEIM (Oni) #1-6 #1 quickly hit $8 and stablized. 2nd printing of #1 may prove to be more valuable than the 1st printing.

SPAWN #9 (Image 1993) 20 year old comic features 1st appearance of Angela by Neil Gaiman which enters the Marvel Universe this week in Age Of Ultron #10. Common book prices are anywhere from $2 to $100 a copy

LOCKE AND KEY (2008) Talk of a new movie based on this already hot comic from 2008.

ANIMAL MAN #1 (DC 2011) 1st print sold out title re-start $15.00 for a while was most valuable new 52 #1.

SKYWARD #1-4 (ACTION LAB ENTERTAINMENT 2013) Originally a one-shot in 2010. Summer 2013 a new ongoing series and all ages friendly from small publisher sold out instantly. Many copies sold between $20 and $25 online. I helped publicize this book online myself helping it achieve higher prices. #1 and #2 currently sell about $8.00 each. We helped bring awareness to this amazing book before release date.

DEVIL’S DOG #1 (2013) New small print run selling about $6.00

STEAM ENGINES OF OZ #1 (ARCANA STUDIOS 2013) Small publisher and print run – another Wizard of Oz inspired series selling way above cover after a month. Become hot 6 weeks after release.

CHOOSE THEIR FATE (SHH PRODUCTIONS 2013) New adults only title with photo nudity and high cover price of $9.95 yet some ebay sellers asking up to $40.00 and one sale as high as $15.00

3D VILLAINS MONTH WEEK #4 (DC 2013) 13 different 3D covers came out in week #4 of the villains month campaign. Here are the highest prices achieved for each. Some high sales actually came in pre-sales online. Most prices have settled to about 50% of these listed prices. Week Four Joker’s Daughter at $110.00 Doomsday at $20 Black Adam at $20 Killer Croc at $13 First Born at $13 Man-Bat at $13 Bane at $12 Sinestro at $12 Secret Society at $12 Ocean Master at $12 Parasite at $11. Joker’s Daughter is without the single most hyped up and hottest comic of the entire year and may have set world record prices for a pre-sale of a new release as collectors were paying up to $110.00 each for a copy of this book just to make sure they got one. That is paying almost 40x cover price before it even came out. Very few customers got a copy unless they were a regular file customer for Batman: The Dark Knight series. It was the hottest of all the 3D covers and the hottest comic of the entire year. However the downside I predicted is that prices could only come down and that has already started to happen.

3D VILLAINS MONTH WEEK #3 (DC 2013) 13 different 3D covers came out in week #3 of the villains month campaign. Here are the highest prices achieved for each. Some high sales actually came in pre-sales online. Most prices have settled to about 50% of these listed prices. Week Three Clayface at $20 Dial E at $46 Eclipso at $20 Deathstroke at $25 The Rogues at $15 Cheetah at $14 Penguin at $13 Ra’s Al Ghul at $13 Arcane at $13 Black Hand at $12 Scarecrow at $12 Shadow Thief at $12 Lex Luthor at $11 H’el at $7

3D VILLAINS MONTH WEEK #2 (DC 2013) 13 different 3D covers came out in week #2 of the villains month campaign. Here are the highest prices achieved for each. Some high sales actually came in pre-sales online. Most prices have settled to about 50% of these listed prices. Week Two Harley Quinn at $36 Mr Freeze at $31 Lobo at $31 Riddler at $20.50 Reverse Flash at $20 Court Of Owls at $18 Killer Frost at $17.50 Solomon Grundy at $13 Trigon at $13 Black Manta for $12 Mongul at $12 Brainiac at $10.50 Zod at $10

3D VILLAINS MONTH WEEK #1 (DC 2013) 13 different 3D covers came out in week #1 of the villains month campaign. Here are the highest prices achieved for each. Some high sales actually came in pre-sales online. Most prices have settled to about 50% of these listed prices. Week One Forever Evil #1 – $280 (1 per store variant cover). Darkseid for $31 Poison Ivy for $27 Ventriloquist for $26.50 Joker for $25 Count Vertigo at $20 Creeper at $20 Deadshot at $16.50 Two-Face at $15 Relic at $14 Bizarro at $13.50 Grodd at $13 Desaad at $13 Cyborg Superman at $10

THE BOUNCE (IMAGE) Creator owned superhero title from last month actually sold out some places and now at $6.00 after 2 months. Slowly building steam. Issue #5 sold out before day of release.

BALLISTIC #1 (BLACK MASK 2013) New mini series – #1 sold out instantly and hit high prices of $12.00 in first week of release.

285 Ballistic 1 $3.50 Black Mask 6,048
GHOSTED #1 (IMAGE 2013) New series sold out instantly – after 6 weeks prices finally jumped and hit as high as $16.00 but then came back down again. All 3 issues sold out instantly at Diamond.
ARCANE SECRETS #1 (2013) New HP Lovecraft adaptation brought some early high online sales at $8.00.
KINGS WATCH (DYNAMITE 2013) #1 the subscription cover sold as high as $9.00 in the first week by George Perez. This series brings back three classic golden age characters as a team: The Phantom with Flash Gordon and Mandrake The Magician.
GRIMM FAIRY TALES: OZ (ZENESCOPE ENTERTAINMENT 2013) #1 has 5 regular covers – most sellers including myself sold these as sets. Selling for cover until it was reported they were sold out and then sets selling for double cover as of Aug 15th.
HARBINGER (VALIANT 2012) Some sales a bit above cover.

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #600 (MARVEL 2009) Had already sold out but then began the new death of Peter Parker storyline.

SATELLITE SAM #1 (IMAGE 2013) New series sold out instantly – hit high of $10.00 after a month
LAZARUS #1 (IMAGE 2013) New ongoing series #1 first print sold out instantly late June 2013. Sold as high as $9.00.

34, Lazarus, 1, $2.99, Image, 48,030

AVENGING SPIDER-MAN #15.1 & #16 (Marvel) sold out early Death of Peter Parker storyline – sales peaked in Jan 2013

DAREDEVIL #21 & #22 (Marvel) sold out early Death of Peter Parker storyline – sales peaked in Jan 2013

GENIE THE GENIUS #1 (APE ENTERTANMENT 2013) New comic aimed at younger readers. Great artwork written by father and daughter team. Small print run. Variant cover edition came out one week before the regular cover and came autographed selling for $10.00. Regular cover sales a bit above cover.

BRAIN BOY (DARK HORSE 2012) #1 some sellers getting more than cover for this new series that brings back a classic 1960′s Dell Comics character.

BURN THE ORPHANAGE #1 (IMAGE 2013) New mini series smaller print run on #1 sold out before hitting stores. – hit high of $6.00 immediately. Variant covers are all hot.

PENNY FOR YOUR SOUL DEATH (2013) New small publisher series. Hit $5.00 for regular covers.

ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #1 (DC 2013) Small print run new Superman series in May 2013 overlooked by many and now sells for $5.00 due to print run of only 30,000.

SUPERMAN UNCHAINED #1 (DC 2013) Large print run new Superman series in June 2013 had high print run but still sold out in some Areas commanding $5.00 due to sell outs while other areas are sitting on large unsold piles of this series.

POLARITY #1-4 Mini-series. Extremely well reviewed caused a sellout on this small print run title written by a rock musician from Say Anything. Small print run instantly to a 2nd printing. #1 sells for $10

225, Polarity, 1, $3.99, Boom, 7,459

250, Polarity, 2, $3.99, Boom, 6,957

247, Polarity, 3, $3.99, Boom, 6,436

SUPERIOR CARNAGE #1 (MARVEL 2013) Major villain mini-series sold out and currently at $6.00 for regular cover.

FIVE COLOR COMICS #1 (ART OF FICTION 2013) $8.95 cover price made this a very low ordered book and has sold above cvr. Did not even make the top 300 monthly sales chart.

MERCY SPARX #1 (DEVILS DUE ENTERTAINMENT 2013) Small time publisher and print run some sellers asking above cover.

A1#1 (2013) New anthology series. New series sold out instantly – some sellers asking above cover

NUMBER 13 (DARK HORSE 2013) Mini series #0 1 2 3. #0 is reprints of early appearances in Dark Horse Presents. #0 commands the Most money. Large print runs on other issues but a teaser trailer came out in July causing interest in a potential future movie.

DARK HORSE PRESENTS #2-6 (DARK HORSE 2011) Anthology with original first appearances of Number 13 later reprinted in Number 13 #0 a year later.

ARCHIE #646 (ARCHIE 2013) Pepoy cover pays tribute to EC 1950′s Weird Science covers – sold as high as $9.99 in first week.

SEX #1-5 (Image) Lots of demand for #1 in pre-sale but has cooled down. #1-2 sell for $8.99 as set.

MASS PROJECT / FABULOUS KILLROYS FCBD – 1st appearance of Killroys based on the My Chemical Romance rock band characters hit a high of $33.00 the week of release of the free comic. New ongoing series starts in June. Market now flooded doesnt sell for $3.00

LIFE WITH ARCHIE #16 Marriage of gay male Kevin Keller in oversized comic. Instant sellout in 2012 and still at $15.00

297 Life With Archie 16 $3.99 Archie 2802 2012 1

POWERS BUREAU (MARVEL) 2013 – interestingly this is a poor seller for Marvel but due to that the print run is so bad that copies have sold out and gone to second printing make some collect 1st print runs of this series above cover.

THE TEST #1 One shot doing well in the $10-20 range in first week of hype. This one did not even chart Top 300 low sales

PILOT SEASON DECLASSIFIED #1 One shot featuring The Test also doing well in the $10-20 range in first week of hype

292 Pilot Season Declassified 2011 One Shot $1.00 Image 3462 2011 9

OCCUPY COMICS #1 (Black Mask) #1 sold out issue based on the writings and thoughts of top comic industry people small print run on a issue dealing with the Occupy Wall Street theme.

RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS #13 (DC) Batman Death in the Family storyline die-cut cover

RED SONJA #1 (IDW 2013) #1 had decent print run but still sold out – some charge a little above cover.

FCBD – 52 different comics were given away on May 4th 2013 for free comic book day. A lot of high prices realized the week of release. All prices have now cooled but due to not being shelved properly random various issues sell well at different times.

ALPHA BIG TIME #0.1 (Marvel 2013) Debut issue is a reprint but debuted before #1 and is now sold out and features Spider-man. Future potential !

BATMAN #18 / DETECTIVE #18 – Requiem death of Robin storyline sold out

STORMWATCH #1 (DC 2011) 1st print sold out title re-start $6.00 Had hit high of $15.00 shortly after release.

THOR GOD OF THUNDER #4 (Marvel) sold out issue with 2nd printing. Fall of Thor ?

HAPPY (IMAGE) 2013 mini series by Grant Morrison – early issues sold out and reprinted. Early markups for #1.

DEVIL MAY CRY – THE CHRONICLES OF VERGIL #1 (Titan) Sold out and up in value with some retailers

BREATH OF BONES – A TALE OF THE GOLEM #1 (DARK HORSE) New Steve Niles mini-series issue sold out some places and some sellers asking above cover.

Thanks to John Jackson Miller at www.comichron.com for the initial Diamond sales figures data

You can see complete monthly Diamond sales chart data and more stats at his site !

I am always happy to hear your comments and thoughts/criticisms on any of my posts.

Terry Hoknes (author) of Hoknes Comics loves analyzing statistics and watching the growth and fall of comic titles over a period of time. He sells all of the latest hot back issue secondary market new comics and all new Diamond products at www.HoknesComics.com and also self-publishes a series of books called “Investing In Comic Books” that focus on the Golden, Silver and Bronze ages of comics. hoknes@hotmail.com Read more about these hot sold out comics at www.comicsheatingup.net

]]>http://comicartcommunity.com/2014/06/investing-comics-may-2014/feed/0Make it So – Power Rangers The Moviehttp://comicartcommunity.com/2014/05/make-power-rangers-movie/
http://comicartcommunity.com/2014/05/make-power-rangers-movie/#commentsFri, 30 May 2014 21:32:23 +0000http://comicartcommunity.com/?p=3444Make It So – Power Rangers The Movie by Jerry Whitworth It was recently announced a deal has been reached between Saban Brands and Lionsgate to produce a live action Power Rangers feature film. While few details are yet available, the wording strongly suggests the film as being a completely separate entity from the […]

It was recently announced a deal has been reached between Saban Brands and Lionsgate to produce a live action Power Rangers feature film. While few details are yet available, the wording strongly suggests the film as being a completely separate entity from the television series and associated media. In other words, it’s not expected the film connects to the current franchise or ties in to the show, be it past or present. And, again, while nothing is known about the film, Saban did skip over a season of Super Sentai (the Japanese series that Power Rangers is made from), specifically Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters. Fans speculated the move was made because the season after Go-Busters, Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger (which will become Power Rangers Dino Charge), had a significantly greater output of toy merchandise. And while this maybe true, it could also be the Lionsgate deal has been in the works for some time and Go-Busters may have been put to the side because it would lend itself well to film. Having a spy theme, Go-Busters features a team of three youths trained to combat an energy being that wishes to conquer mankind and live in a world for machines (elements reminiscent of Terminator and The Matrix). Based on comments made by Haim Saban, it’s likely film series like The Hunger Games, Twilight, and Divergent will provide inspiration for the movie’s cast and story. However, it’s likely films like The Raid: Redemption, Pacific Rim, and The Avengers could also inspire the direction of the upcoming Power Rangers picture as the studio likely wants to capitalize on the popularity of superheroes at the box office. Lets examine some elements we’re likely to see in the film.

TEENAGERS WITH ATTITUDE

Going back to the show’s roots in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, an inherent element in the series is teenagers who employ morphers to transform into super-powered heroes. Virtually every season has involved young looking and extremely attractive actors playing young people (teenagers or a little bit older). Often times the leader is the red ranger who usually has been someone adept at martial arts followed by equal parts male and female teammates (one male and one female, two males and two females, etc), though this concept goes out the window should auxiliary rangers and allies emerge (generally being predominantly male). As far as I know, every season thus far has had a red, blue, and yellow ranger (primary colors). If the film wants to go back to the original series for inspiration, it’s likely black and pink will also appear. Often when the original series is mentioned, the popular phrase “teenagers with attitude” is recalled as it was used in the opening sequence of the first series. Should Saban and Lionsgate truly be looking to Hunger Games, Divergent, and Twilight for inspiration, it’s likely the dramatic moments in the film will be fairly angst-driven with triangle (and beyond) romances. Returning to Go-Busters, the series had a rather sleek design to the costumes and while the show started with the three primary colors, the team was later joined by two additional rangers of gold and silver. However, undoubtedly the film will shoot its own footage and possible borrow character designs from Super Sentai so another route could be taken. In the film Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters Returns vs. Dobutsu Sentai Go-Busters, an alternate Go-Busters team is introduced which included a green ranger and black ranger with a wannabe pink ranger. In other words, elements of the five original colors is present and even the green color of the original sixth ranger is included.

GIANT ROBOTS

There has always been three basic elements of Power Rangers: martial arts, ranger suits, and giant robots. Following the release of the film Pacific Rim and considering the upcoming Godzilla movie, we know full well there’s more to live action giant robots and monsters than cumbersome rubber suits. Add to this when you consider The Avengers film took an alien invasion in a movie to an unprecedented level of action and it becomes clear a Power Rangers film could be head and shoulders above what was possible in the television series. Simply put, technology has caught up to the concepts Power Rangers has played with over the last twenty years. With the current level of CGI as evidenced by the Transformers franchise, you can have zords with fluid movement that form into an intimidating megazord to battle giant monsters.

ALIEN INVADERS

Another significant cornerstone of Power Rangers is the threat of an invasion. Often times, this threat is from space. Others, it’s from within. Should the film follow Go-Busters, the threat would be from within as a virus gave rise to an energy being called Messiah. This being then created the Vaglass, a race of virus-infused robots led by Messiah’s avatars Enter and Escape. What could make something like this work quite well in a film is the prevalence of technology in our world. When in many parts of the world almost every social interaction is in some way connected to technology (people walking around with cellphones, being in a home with Wi-Fi, surveillance seemingly every where, cars with GPS, etc), a technology based opponent could wreak untold havoc on the world. Add to that a robot and giant robot army and it’s like I, Robot meets The Avengers meets Pacific Rim.

SEQUELS

It’s extremely likely that a film series is planned, perhaps a trilogy at least. Further, it’s becoming more and more common with genre films to offer end credits reveals. If Lionsgate plans to capitalize on the success of something like the Marvel Cinematic Universe, an intriguing route maybe Hexagon. Amit Bhaumik was a Power Rangers superfan who collaborated on the “Scorpion Rain” hoax that transitioned Power Rangers Zeo to Turbo that went on to work for Power Rangers during its Wild Force season. He would be remembered best for the special “Forever Red” which celebrated ten years of Power Rangers where he made nods to “Scorpion Rain” and set the stage for his pitch for the next season of the series. Of course, Disney would purchase the brand during Wild Force and largely abandoned the previous seasons with Ninja Storm (however, this would change following a huge fan backlash). Bhaumik had hoped with Ninja Storm to introduce Hexagon, a concept based on the Pentagon but with six sides to reflect various past seasons of Power Rangers (with five main rangers and a sixth ranger later down the line). Led and founded by Tommy Oliver, Hexagon would unify past ranger teams into a single organization dedicated to Earth’s defense (reminiscent in a manner to S.H.I.E.L.D. so far as reference made to Tommy as Power Rangers’ Nick Fury by Bhaumik when speaking on it). The story went so far as to include an internal struggle between rangers when Jason Lee Scott led an anti-establishment group against Hexagon. How the concept could work well in the film is having fans await some sort of tie-in to the original franchise leaving the Tommy reveal for the end to set-up a basis for the follow-up.

]]>http://comicartcommunity.com/2014/05/make-power-rangers-movie/feed/0Rememberin’ Amazin’ Adventureshttp://comicartcommunity.com/2014/05/rememberin-amazin-adventures/
http://comicartcommunity.com/2014/05/rememberin-amazin-adventures/#commentsThu, 22 May 2014 04:53:55 +0000http://comicartcommunity.com/?p=3416Rememberin’ Amazin’ Adventures by Jerry Whitworth Considering the success of USA Cartoon Express, Disney Afternoon, and Fox Kids, other companies in the early 1990s wanted to capitalize on the popularity of animated programming blocks for children. One such corporation was Bohbot Communications which founded subsidiary Bohbot Entertainment to package programming for syndication. Forming a […]

Considering the success of USA Cartoon Express, Disney Afternoon, and Fox Kids, other companies in the early 1990s wanted to capitalize on the popularity of animated programming blocks for children. One such corporation was Bohbot Communications which founded subsidiary Bohbot Entertainment to package programming for syndication. Forming a partnership with DiC Entertainment and Saban Entertainment, Bohbot developed the Amazin’ Adventures programming block in 1992 premiering with Double Dragon, Mighty Max, King Arthur and the Knights of Justice, and Gulliver’s Travels. Arguably the biggest hit of Amazin’ Adventures, Double Dragon was loosely based on the video game series of the same name from Technos Japan.

Likely Technos Japan’s biggest hit in the United States, the Double Dragon video game series featured brothers Billy and Jimmy Lee who battled the Black Warriors to save Billy’s kidnapped girlfriend Marian (only to reveal the gang was actually led by Jimmy). As the Shadow Boss, Jimmy desired Marian for himself and set up the ruse to defeat his brother. Billy would end up winning out over his sibling and saved Marian. In the sequel, the Black Warriors return and kill Marian drawing the Lee brothers together again on a quest for revenge against the evil Shadow Master (though, defeating him seemingly resurrects Marian). In the animated series, Marian is police officer Marian Martin whose life is saved by Billy Lee. As the Shadow Warriors gang takes over Metro City, Marian deputizes Billy leading the martial arts master to meet his long lost brother Jimmy, better known as Shadow Boss. When Shadow Master (who kidnapped Jimmy as a baby and raised him as his protege) betrays his student, Jimmy switches alliances to Billy and the two take up magical swords to transform into the Double Dragons. Forming the Dragon Warriors with other heroes, the Lee brothers combat Shadow Master and later Shadow Khan. The series would run for two seasons and inspired a video game adaptation in Double Dragon V: The Shadow Falls and a toyline from Tyco. The animated series that followed Double Dragon would be one based on a toyline.

In the early 1990s, Mattel would license the lucrative Polly Pocket toyline from UK-based Bluebird Toys to be distributed in the United States. Originally, the toys were playsets that folded up and could fit in your pocket with miniature figurines you would play with in these little portable worlds. Marketed to girls, there was a desire to make an equivalent for boys. Bluebird developed Mighty Max which featured the eponymous character in action-themed sets with monsters for him to battle. Mattel would also license this line and an animated series was developed to help promote the toys. For the show, Max is chosen to bear a magical baseball cap that opens up portals across the Earth and on occasion through time and to the astral plane. Joined by birdlike Lemurian Virgil and massive viking swordsman Norman, Max is chased by the evil Skullmaster whose followers seek the cap to free the villain from his subterranean prison. Featuring the voice talents of Tim Curry and Richard Moll, the series was unusually dark for its time (or even today). It was common for monsters in the series to kill its victims and the series finale featured the demise of Virgil and Norman. Marvel UK would produce a comic adaptation of the series as the toyline changed to reflect the cartoon’s storyline. The series ended after two seasons. The next show in the line-up was also one of sword and sorcery.

King Arthur and the Knights of Justice would be an intriguing series in that while being based on the Arthurian myth, it featured a team of football players transported back in time by Merlin in order to replace the actual knights of the round table who had been captured by their nemesis Morgana. Sort of combining elements of A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, the Flash Gordon film, and Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light, the show was very much a mixed bag. The series’ star, Arthur King, is in fact such a perfect stand-in for King Arthur, he’s able to masquerade as the king even in the presence of wife Guinevere (which adds a bit of a quasi-superhero element to the series as Arthur in a manner is a hero with a secret identity with a bit of a metal hero element to it). The first season featured the stand-in Knights of Justice trying to free the real knights by locating the Keys of Truth while protecting Camelot from Morgana’s Warlords led by Lord Viper (the only human among his knights, his subordinates made magically from stone). The second season added a rather significant wrinkle to the show by introducing the Purple Horde, a clan of Asian warriors which seemed to include samurai and ninja whom employed gunpowder in a bid to conquer England. An enemy of both Arthur and the Warlords, the Horde held its own against both and at times would help one side or the other (the desire to conquer aligning with Morgana, bound by honor at times to stand with Arthur). The show would last two seasons and spawned a Marvel comic series, toyline from Mattel, and video game from Enix (the game actually featuring the football team return home). Gulliver’s Travels from Saban lasted one season and adapted the famous novel by Jonathan Swift. Series like The Hurricanes, Around the World in Eighty Dreams, and The Wizard of Oz would also come along before Amazin’ Adventures II premiered.

Other channels began dipping their toes in action-based children programming blocks around this time. CBS developed the Action Zone in 1994 with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Wild C.A.T.s, and Skeleton Warriors (with a comic book one-shot produced) which, sadly, didn’t last long. In 1995, Warner Bros. premiered its wildly popular Kids’ WB block. That same year, Bohbot would incorporate series from Ruby-Spears Productions and New Frontier Entertainment in its new package which would be dubbed Amazin’ Adventures II. This revised block featured Gadget Boy & Heather (based on Inspector Gadget), Ultraforce, Princess Gwenevere and the Jewel Riders, Street Sharks, and Mega Man. Based on the Malibu Comics’ flagship title and originally airing on the USA Network, Ultraforce featured Prime, Hardcase, Prototype, Topaz, Ghoul, and Contrary as they teamed to face threats like Rune, Lord Pumpkin, Primevil, and Sludge. Thirteen episodes were made for what ended up almost a universally panned series. Galoob would make a toyline before it came to an end. Bohbot would again go back into Arthurian myth again following King Arthur and the Knights of Justice with Princess Gwenevere and the Jewel Riders.

Princess Gwenevere by Elise Rosberg (hyacinthess)

From the mind behind The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers, Robert Mandell had developed an animated adaptation of the popular series Dragonriders of Pern only for the rights to fall through. Re-purposing work done and calling in some of the staff from Galaxy Rangers, the concept would become Princess Gwenevere and the Jewel Riders. With some elements reminiscent of Amethyst: Princess of Gemworld and the magical girl genre in Japan, Princess Gwenevere tells the story of Gwenevere and her friends Fallon and Tamara who became the Jewel Riders and must defend Avalon from Lady Kale, Gwen’s aunt, and save their mentor Merlin. In its second season, Merlin’s nemesis Morgana returns to form an alliance with Kale and troubles the Jewel Riders who still seek to save Merlin. Co-produced with Hasbro, the series would have a toyline from that company and despite only lasting two seasons, the series has an ongoing legacy in the Avalon: Web of Magic book series by Rachel Roberts which itself was adapted into the manga series Avalon: The Warlock Diaries and will be made into a film in the future.

Street Sharks by Anny D (Angelo Nardone)

When the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles became a phenomenon in pop culture, several brands emerged either purposefully or by coincidence to capitalize on its success. One such notable brand was David Siegel and Joe Galliani’s Street Sharks. For this series, a pair of scientists create a machine able to combine the DNA of aquatic life with other species intended to help humanity (such as with water rescue or deep sea exploration, concepts reminiscent of TigerSharks and Mega Man). Called the Gene-Slammer, Dr. Luther Paradigm betrayed his partner Dr. Robert Bolton turning him into some unseen monstrosity that escapes. For good measure, Paradigm decides to test the device on Bolton’s four sons, combining each with the DNA of a different shark. Transformed into the Street Sharks, the brothers save their friend Bends from becoming Paradigm’s next victim (with the scientist instead having his DNA melded with that of a piranha). The experience changes Paradigm’s focus from using the technology toward creating living weapons for the highest bidder to seeking revenge against the Sharks, making various monsters to battle them and concocting schemes to discredit them in the public eye of Fission City. Along the way, several of the creatures Paradigm spawned ended up becoming allies of the heroes. The end of the series would set-up a spin-off in Extreme Dinosaurs. Street Sharks would begin as a three-part mini-series before becoming two full seasons before ending. Archie Comics, who produced a comic book series loosely based on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon, published a mini-series based on the first three episodes of Street Sharks before becoming an ongoing series that lasted three issues. Mattel produced six waves of action figures over the span of two years based on the series.

One of the most recognizable characters of Capcom’s library, Mega Man has starred in over one hundred games. Some of the earliest exposure children in America may have had with the character was his role in the animated series Captain N: The Game Master. In 1994, Mega Man would get to star in his own animated series thanks to Ruby-Spears Productions, Ashi Productions, and Ocean Productions. A Japanese franchise produced to be an American cartoon animated by a Japanese studio, Mega Man featured scientists Dr. Light and Dr. Wily developing robots to help humanity only for their initial prototype to destroy their lab after activation. Light blamed the malfunction on Wily leading the latter to leave with the prototype in tow (later known as Proto Man). Light went on to build two robots based on the prototype’s design in Rock and Roll which, in essence, became like the scientist’s children. The design now perfected, Light built Cut Man, Guts Man, and Ice Man only for Wily and Proto to steal these latest models which were reprogrammed as weapons. Light would remodel Rock into the warrior Mega Man to battle this new threat who had the ability to copy the abilities of defeated robots. Wily would build many new robots but Mega Man would rise to the challenge. The show was a hit with viewers and was the number one weekly syndicated children’s show on television. Characters from the first five Mega Man games as well as Mega Man X made it into the series. Mega Man spawned two waves of action figures from Bandai before the series ended after two seasons. Rumor has it, the show ended due to the toyline. Reportedly, Capcom pulled the series despite its success under pressure from Bandai whose sales expectations ran short on several of its other toylines.

By 1996, the USA Network would add a new programming block called USA Action Extreme Team which included Exosquad, Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm, Savage Dragon, Wing Commander Academy, and, in time, would largely rerun series from Amazin’ Adventures. The while, new series would emerge on Amazin’ Adventures in Captain Simian & the Space Monkeys, Eagle Riders (Gatchaman II and Gatchaman Fighter, part of the franchise better known in America as Battle of the Planets), and Skysurfer Strike Force. Founded in 1993, Epoch Ink Animation was the brainchild of animation creator and producer Joe Pearson which was given its big break in 1995 with Captain Simian & the Space Monkeys. Ordered by Hallmark Entertainment, the show featured a monkey test fired into outer space and discovered by a highly advanced race. In order to combat the threat of a black hole/humanoid-hybrid named Lord Nebula, the monkey is evolved and educated becoming the series star Captain Simian. To assist in his quest, other primates from Earth are recruited and evolved to form the Space Monkeys. Combining humor and action, the series paid homage to numerous science fiction films and series like Planet of the Apes, Alien, Plan 9 from Outer Space, 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange, Lawnmower Man, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and Blade Runner, as well as featuring voice actors like Jerry Doyle (Babylon 5), Michael Dorn (Star Trek: The Next Generation), Malcolm McDowell (A Clockwork Orange), and David Warner (Time Bandits, Tron). The series would last one season and spawn a toyline designed by Bluebird Toys and released by Mattel. Epoch Ink would go on to produce design and consultation work on the Gen¹³ animated feature and Crash Bandicoot game.

Previously working together on Mega Man, Ruby-Spears Productions and Ashi Productions collaborated again to create Skysurfer Strike Force. When scientist Adam Hollister is killed in an explosion at a lab developing artificial intelligence, he’s blamed for the event as the computer brain he developed was stolen by his killer who fused with the apparatus to become the criminal Cybron. Adam’s son Jack uses his father’s technology to prove his innocence and battle Cybron and his evil Bio-Borgs as Skysurfer One, leader of the Skysurfer Strike Force. Some amalgamation of Super Sentai and Metal Hero (maybe with a little Bionic Six mixed in), the heroes use wrist watch devices to transform as their cars turn into large air boards. Like Mega Man, the series is a bit of an odd bird in that the animation was clearly in the Japanese vein that rather obviously was based on something from Japan (as mentioned, Super Sentai and Metal Hero, which in America at that time meant Power Rangers and VR Troopers, while even Bionic Six was animated by Japanese studio TMS Entertainment). And yet, the quality of the writing was fairly atrocious which to a degree was on the way out in animation around this time in the United States (that seems to be on the rise again today). The series lasted two seasons and spawned a toyline from Bandai (another parallel from Mega Man).

Extreme Ghostbusters by Fil Barlow

Bohbot would retire Amazin’ Adventures in 1997, replacing it with Bohbot Kids Network (better known as BKN). That same year, Cartoon Network would adopt its wildly popular Toonami animation block. Bohbot would abandon the weekend format for a weekly schedule. Lasting for three more years, BKN would air series like Extreme Dinosaurs, Extreme Ghostbusters, Sonic Underground, and Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles as well as various reruns of previously aired series. Mentioned earlier, Extreme Dinosaurs was a spin-off of Street Sharks that also had a toyline from Mattel. Extreme Ghostbusters was a sequel to The Real Ghostbusters based on a toyline from Trendmasters that had three video games based on it. Character Kylie Griffin would prove so notable that she would be adapted for IDW Publishing’s comic series based on the Ghostbusters franchise. Sonic Underground was the third animated series based on the Sonic the Hedgehog video game franchise that was completely unrelated to the previous cartoon adaptations. Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles was based on the novel and film Starship Troopers. The series would develop a cult-like following that managed to get the series released out on DVD. As mentioned, many of the shows syndicated by Bohbot would have a lasting legacy airing in reruns on the USA Network. Roughnecks was fortunate in getting a complete release as many of the series noted either never officially made it to DVD or were released cheaply for chain markets (where a handful of seemingly random episodes were put on a single DVD). Cookie Jar Media has started taking certain lesser known series and collecting them in sets on DVD at low prices, including Street Sharks and Gadget Boy’s Adventures in History (a spin-off of Gadget Boy & Heather).

]]>http://comicartcommunity.com/2014/05/rememberin-amazin-adventures/feed/0Wonderland #22 Review by Jessica Curtishttp://comicartcommunity.com/2014/05/wonderland-22-review-jessica-curtis/
http://comicartcommunity.com/2014/05/wonderland-22-review-jessica-curtis/#commentsMon, 19 May 2014 22:16:45 +0000http://comicartcommunity.com/?p=3407Wonderland #22 Review by Jessica Curtis Esquivel- Writer Miranda- Artwork Paciarotti-Color The story begins in the “Void” with Wonderland shaping itself as none other than James Franco. An unusual but perfect choice when you figure who Wonderland would chose to personify itself. Strangely enough the reader finds themselves drawn to the realization that Wonderland yearns […]

Wonderland #22 Review by Jessica Curtis

Esquivel- WriterMiranda- ArtworkPaciarotti-Color

The story begins in the “Void” with Wonderland shaping itself as none other than James Franco. An unusual but perfect choice when you figure who Wonderland would chose to personify itself. Strangely enough the reader finds themselves drawn to the realization that Wonderland yearns for human companionship… even if that human companionship can either bring healing or destruction.

Far above Wonderland, the Star Gods are finding themselves overwhelmed by the one they seek to control, Calie Liddle. These Star Gods provide to Calie all that she needs to know about Wonderland. A knowledge that will help her shape and control Wonderland, and a knowledge that will either save or destroy a place of dreams and nightmares.

It is no surprise that the Liddles are those that have shaped Wonderland to all it has become. Wonderland reveals to Calie that Wonderland was once a Garden of Eden and now, thanks to the men of the Liddle family, it has become a place of nightmares. It is here that Calie accepts her destiny and decides to save Wonderland. Such an acceptance allows Wonderland the possibility to heal itself and become something more… that is if Hazel doesn’t interfere.

Like every other issue of Wonderland, the story is as curious and lovely as its namesake. The Star Gods are painted and displayed in fanciful and cosmic colors, and the void a desolate desert. The contrast of color choice between Calie, Hazel, and Wonderland are a unique balance that Wonderland is known for.

Every moment and every page is well suited to the art and color scheme that is chosen by Miranda and Paciarotti. However, it is the story itself that stands out. The interactions of Calie with Wonderland and the Star Gods, and with Hazel are so beautifully portrayed are all that help build towards the expectation of all that is to come. It is with eager anticipation that I wait for the next issue to see what is to come of Wonderland, Hazel, and Calie.

]]>http://comicartcommunity.com/2014/05/wonderland-22-review-jessica-curtis/feed/0Make it So – The Outsidershttp://comicartcommunity.com/2014/05/make-outsiders/
http://comicartcommunity.com/2014/05/make-outsiders/#commentsFri, 09 May 2014 05:11:16 +0000http://comicartcommunity.com/?p=3403Make it So: The Outsiders by Jerry Whitworth Its been said before and seems to be consistently accurate that when it comes to Marvel and DC Comics, the former dominates the box office (save for Batman and the occasional Superman film) and latter excels on television. The Marvel Cinematic Universe, and satellite Marvel properties […]

Its been said before and seems to be consistently accurate that when it comes to Marvel and DC Comics, the former dominates the box office (save for Batman and the occasional Superman film) and latter excels on television. The Marvel Cinematic Universe, and satellite Marvel properties at other studios (like X-Men and Spider-Man), are the talk of Hollywood. Every victory Marvel takes in on the big screen seems to mean blooming two or three fold in the years to come (as Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America have opened the door to sequels as well as Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Ant-Man). DC has relied on its old faithful Batman and has given a push to Superman which may open up to Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and so forth, but the company seems somewhat hesitant following the failure of Green Lantern and Jonah Hex at box office. For television, however, Green Arrow seems to have followed the success of Smallville and has an upcoming spin-off involving the Flash as series Gotham and Constantine are on the horizon on other stations. Marvel, on the other hand, has produced Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. which initially did extremely well only for its ratings to sink like a rock. However, Marvel inked a deal that may yet have them dominate television (and computer screens) across the country with the Defenders on Netflix. Which begs the question, will DC retaliate and, if so, in what manner?

Rather than go head-to-head, DC may go to one of Netflix’s competitors like Hulu Plus or Amazon Prime. As for content, it’s likely big names maybe reserved for the big screen (save the Flash, apparently) which leads to one of DC’s biggest flaws with film adaptation. Simply put, most of the company’s superhero content derives from the Justice League (directly or otherwise). Virtually all of their biggest names are in the League or the Teen Titans (which itself is largely composed of Leaguer’s sidekicks). After the League and Titans, the next biggest franchise that could bear fruit maybe the Legion of Super-Heroes but that could be challenging for a live action series. This, logically, then leaves the Outsiders. Some cross between a home for more obscure heroes like Black Lightning and Metamorpho and brand new ones like Katana and Geo-Force, the team would later evolve to a group for older Titans as new teens made up the sidekick-centric team of old. Following in the foot steps of Marvel’s Defenders series of mini-series, Outsiders could feature individual series that lead in to a group event (reminiscent of Grant Morrison’s Seven Soldiers). The benefit that Outsiders might have, however, is the presence of Arrow and the Flash on television. While Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. ties into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the execution of this has been viewed as poor at best. Certainly, Defenders may tie into the MCU, but only time will tell. With Outsiders, members could make appearances on television to help promote their series (while people involved with Arrow have expressed a desire to tie the series to what DC is doing on the big screen). In turn, characters from Arrow and/or Flash could appear in the Outsiders event (like Green Arrow or the Suicide Squad). Imagine, Black Lightning and Green Arrow teaming up on Arrow as Black Lightning combats Killer Frost in his own series leading to Green Arrow appearing in the Outsiders and Killer Frost emerging in the Suicide Squad. You could even take another step and introduce CGI heavy characters like Metamorpho into the event part of the series that could transition into the larger budget of a television production on, say, the Flash. Lets take a look at some heroes that could comprise a live action Outsiders.

BLACK LIGHTNING

Jefferson Pierce was an Olympic decathlete who took gold in his sport and returned to his childhood neighborhood of Suicide Slum (in Metropolis) to become a high school science teacher. However, despite his efforts to try and affect the youth of the notoriously dangerous neighborhood, the grip of the gang known as the 100 proved to be too strong for any man to conquer alone. Peter Gambi, brother of Paul Gambi (tailor for the Flash’s rogues) and friend/father-figure of Pierce living in the neighborhood as a tailor, sympathized with his friend’s plight. Reaching out to Paul and his connections in the world of super science, Pete procured a power belt for Pierce that surrounded him in a protective force field and gave him the ability to discharge electricity from his hands. Donning a costume made by Pete, Pierce became the hero Black Lightning who quickly made a nemesis in Tobias Whale, an albino African American crimelord who headed up the local chapter of the 100, and his whip-wielding assassin Syonide. It wouldn’t be long until Black Lightning and Superman were targeted by the 100 and became allies in the process. At some point, Whale would attract the attention of Green Arrow leading to a brief team-up with Pierce in turn seeing Arrow nominate Black Lightning for the Justice League of America. Pierce would turn the offer down, however, in light of how much work still needed to be done in Suicide Slum. On a separate occasion, Batman and Black Lightning would have intersecting missions leading to their becoming allies. The experience must have left an impression on the Dark Knight because when the Justice League refused to help Batman save his friend Lucius Fox for fear of causing a political incident, Batman quit the League and enlisted Lightning’s help. The pair entered the foreign country of Markovia only for their plans to go awry. Other heroes like Metamorpho, Katana, and Halo would be in the country around the time for their own reasons and ended up joining Batman, Black Lightning, and Brion Markov (the super-powered prince of Markovia who would become Geo-Force) to stop the invasion of the country and formed the Outsiders. In time, Black Lightning and Katana would become part of a small circle of people Batman could trust (as much as he’s capable of doing so, in any event). So much so, Pierce became a spy for Batman in Lex Luthor’s cabinet when the villain became president of the United States of America. Black Lightning would later use this public association as leverage to gain intelligence from low-level supervillains of goings on in the underworld. This became a strong tool when Pierce finally accepted full-time membership into the Justice League of America.

If Black Lightning has one major flaw in being adapted to the small screen, it’s the size of his rogues gallery. Tobias Whale maybe his nemesis and the hero would fight several people who assumed the Syonide identity, Lightning has few in the area of reoccurring foes. The 100 would make enemies of Superman and the heroine Thorn (better known as Rose and Thorn) before later becoming the 1000, largely nemeses of Booster Gold. The 1000 had some notable members like Blackguard, Chiller, Mindancer, and Shockwave. However, if there’s a lesson to be learned from Arrow, it’s that largely unused villains of other heroes can be translated to heroes that lack notable rogues. While Count Vertigo and Clock King made their way to Arrow, Batman villains like Merlyn, Deadshot, Bronze Tiger, and the League of Assassins and Teen Titans villains Deathstroke and Brother Blood became fixtures in the series. In this manner, the rogues of Firestorm maybe a good fit. Considering both heroes are elemental in nature and both combat powerful organizations (for Firestorm, the 2000 Committee), the translation wouldn’t be that challenging. Enemies like Killer Frost, Multiplex, Tokamak, Plastique, Hyena, Mindboggler, Incognito, and Stratos could make for rather dynamic opponents in the show.

THE QUESTION

Investigative journalist Vic Sage was called on by his friend Aristotle Rodor (nicknamed “Tot”), a scientist who co-developed artificial skin called Pseudoderm, to help stop his partner Dr. Barby Twain from selling their creation to third world countries as a treatment for burn victims despite proving toxic to open wounds. Using the Pseudoderm, Sage made a mask he could see and breath through yet making him appear to have no face. Sage brought the villain to justice, reporting his crimes on the news, and decided to continue his adventures as the Question, using a gas designed by Rodor that temporarily changed the color of his clothes and hair to further hide his identity. The Question would gain an infrequent nemesis in the Banshee, a circus performer named Max Bine who used a special suit to glide on air currents to become a thief. Likely, the Question would reach his greatest popularity following being nearly killed by master assassin Lady Shiva. However, the killer saw promise in the hero as an opponent and directed him to her rival Richard Dragon who trained him into becoming one of the world’s greatest fighters. The Question returned to Hub City to battle corruption in politics and to take down organized crime. In the time that followed, the Question would infrequently team with Batman and Green Arrow separately but the three would team in a fashion to repay a debt to Lady Shiva’s sensei. For a time, Sage would become romantically involved with the Huntress. The hero would later die from lung cancer and pass his mantle onto former Gotham City Policewoman Renee Montoya.

In a similar fashion to Black Lightning, the Question had a foe in the Banshee (as well as frenemy in Lady Shiva) but no real rogues gallery. So, perhaps taking a note out of Arrow‘s book, the Question could borrow from several heroes but with a focus on more human foes. Some examples could be Lady Shiva’s Circle of Six, Simon Stagg, Kobra, Cannon and Saber, Dumas, and Lasso. Something that would be extremely cool for fans could be having Mark Valley reprise his character of Christopher Chance from Human Target for an episode (if, for example, Baptiste was to come to Hub City). In Justice League Unlimited, the Question was a conspiracy theorist which proved to be fairly popular with fans. Perhaps in a series, Sage could investigate government organizations that abuse their powers. Similar concepts were approached in comic stories such as those involving Jonathan Drew, Codename: Assassin.

THE CREEPER

Jack Ryder was a television talk show host in Gotham City that lost his job and began to work network security investigation to make a living. On one fateful night, Ryder was sent to locate and retrieve a missing scientist named Emil Yatz who defected from Russia to America but was captured in order to be sent back. Ryder tracked Yatz to a costume party being hosted by the gang leader that kidnapped him and pieced together a costume from scraps he could find to infiltrate the ball. Sporting a green wig, red sheepskin cape/shawl, and yellow tights, Ryder found his target only to be shot resulting in a fatal wound. Yatz, however, was able to save his life with a serum that would give Ryder superhuman abilities. The gang members would attack the two men where Ryder was able to best them but not before they killed Yatz. With his new abilities, Ryder became the bizarre hero the Creeper but is hunted by the police who falsely believe the man of being responsible for the scientist’s death. During his war on crime in Gotham, the Creeper gained a nemesis in Proteus, a crimeboss that can alter his face and is secretly Ryder’s close friend Remington “Rip” Cord. The Creeper would later become an infrequent ally to the Justice League of America and time and again would team with Batman before moving to Boston. The Creeper would later go through several revisions, notably that the Creeper persona is largely separate from Ryder and is mentally unstable. Some versions have even tied the Creeper’s origins to the Joker. A recent revision had the Creeper as a demon that possesses Ryder in a fashion not unlike Jason Blood and Etrigan. The Creeper would later be selected by Batman to form a new group of Outsiders meant to fill a void left by the absence of the Dark Knight.

The Creeper falls into the same issue afflicting Black Lightning and the Question as Proteus is largely his sole nemesis and reoccurring foe. The character certainly has promise, with a maniacal streak akin to the Shadow, a fearsome presence in a fashion to Freddy Krueger, and the reputation as a criminal like the Green Hornet (I sometimes think of the Creeper as a cross between the Joker and Wolverine). Elements of his backstory could be played up as a split personality he is aware of (perhaps haunted by, seeing the Creeper look at him in reflections for example) that urges him to let him out only for dire situations to necessitate the Creeper’s emergence. Also, the concept of the Creeper as some demonic entity that Ryder can, to a degree, rein in could be used to tackle supernatural elements. Jason Blood was brought up with nemeses like Morgaine le Fey and Klarion the Witch Boy which are viable candidates for foes. With Slaughter Swamp just outside Gotham, Solomon Grundy is a no-brainer as an opponent (the character in Arrow explained away as a derivative agent of the original of which the nursery rhyme derives). Deacon Blackfire is another viable opponent. Certainly, DC is not without its many supernatural beings like Eclipso, Anton Arcane, Harm, and Mary, Queen of Blood. Ryder could also cross swords with paranormal heroes like Ragman and Deadman considering his position as a perceived monster.

KATANA

Life was good for shufu Tatsu: married to a loving husband in Maseo Yamashiro and blessed with twin daughters Yuki and Reiko. Sadly, one night it was all taken from her. Maseo and his brother Takeo both desired Tatsu and when she chose the former, Takeo joined the Yakuza and worked his way up in their ranks. Takeo would become a trusted ally of a mercenary named Karnz and was given a magical katana sword called Soultaker that steals the soul of those it has slain. This new weapon in hand, Takeo went to his brother and challenged him to a duel for Tatsu’s heart. The two fought but when Maseo became distracted by his daughters, Takeo cut him down. A fire ensued and Tatsu, a martial arts prodigy, fought her brother-in-law, disarming him before going to look for her children. However, Maseo’s voice emerged from the sword telling her that she was too late. Takeo escaped to parts unknown and Tatsu evaded the fire, henceforth training to one day seek justice against the man responsible for the death of her family. The first step in this journey came when Tatsu learned Karnz was in Markovia, taking his life only to then join Batman and other heroes to form the Outsiders. Taking the name Katana, Tatsu moved to Gotham City where Takeo followed her and stole her sword. In Tokyo, the godfather of the Yakuza known simply as Oyabun performed a ritual summoning the inhabitants of the sword (including Maseo) into corporeal form as his slaves. The Outsiders fought the spirits and Katana was forced to kill her husband, but she also managed to take vengeance upon Takeo. The Oyabun would become a thorn in Katana’s side while at one point the heroine aided the Suicide Squad making allies in the Bronze Tiger and Manhunter. Lady Shiva would later come to claim Soultaker for Katana’s former master, killing Tatsu but the heroine underwent a trial by combat within the sword and was resurrected. Katana would become one of Batman’s closest confidants, so much so she became a spy within a group assembled by Lex Luthor to capture Batman. Also, Katana and Black Lightning would become close friends, regularly meeting as civilians to discuss what’s going on in their lives over dinner.

As with others listed, Katana is short on rogues. Her brother-in-law Takeo and his boss Oyabun are about the closest she has to nemeses. Considering how deeply entrenched Katana is in martial arts, it would be smart to focus on her tackling that world from DC Comics. For example, the Brotherhood of the Monkey Fist who were the center of the “Brotherhood of the Fist” storyarc involving Green Arrow, Batman, and their cast (including Katana, Question, Black Canary, and Bronze Tiger) could make for a consistent threat (one lead by Lady Shiva under the alias of the Paper Monkey). Another notable martial threat could be the Twelve Brothers in Silk, masters in the fighting arts that combated the Birds of Prey and allies like Green Arrow and Richard Dragon. There is also the mercenary band Cheshire and the Ravens that acted as an anti-Birds of Prey whose members ran afoul of the Secret Six (resulting in Deadshot putting a bullet into member Pistolera’s head). Mostly made up of Wonder Woman foes, the Samurai Squad offered Sumo the Samurai, Kung, and Tsunami.

]]>http://comicartcommunity.com/2014/05/make-outsiders/feed/1The Descent of Action Toons on Disney XDhttp://comicartcommunity.com/2014/05/descent-action-toons-disney-xd/
http://comicartcommunity.com/2014/05/descent-action-toons-disney-xd/#commentsTue, 06 May 2014 05:40:05 +0000http://comicartcommunity.com/?p=3383The Descent of Action Toons on Disney XD by Jerry Whitworth Considering the popularity of our earlier piece “Top 10: Action Series Canceled by Cartoon Network,” I looked into tackling a similar article with another likely target in Disney XD. However, the network has been rather slow to develop animated action series despite having […]

Considering the popularity of our earlier piece “Top 10: Action Series Canceled by Cartoon Network,” I looked into tackling a similar article with another likely target in Disney XD. However, the network has been rather slow to develop animated action series despite having an impressive track record of canceling such programs (thus making a Top 10 challenging). The station got its start as Toon Disney, largely an extension of the Disney Channel. It would feature older programming very much in the same way Cartoon Network started. A hallmark of the burgeoning channel was series from the popular Disney Afternoon block of programming. Shows like DuckTales, Gargoyles, Darkwing Duck, Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers, Adventures of the Gummi Bears, and The Wuzzles were staples in its early years. Disney would actively jump feet first into action programming with the Jetix brand. Formerly Fox Kids, Jetix was a programming block featuring action series that aired on ABC Family (formerly the Family Channel and Fox Family) and Toon Disney. Featuring programs like W.I.T.C.H., A.T.O.M., and Yin Yang Yo!, a notable entry among the catalog was Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!

Gaining notice for his work on Teen Titans, Ciro Nieli created Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go! (SRMTHFG for short) in the same vein as cult-favorite Cartoon Network series Megas XLR as a love letter to various genres appealing to fans of anime, science fiction, comic books, and tokusatsu. Best described as an American anime (created by Americans but animated by a Japanese studio, in this instance The Answer Studio, using a style commonly associated with anime), SRMTHFG tells the story of a young man named Chiro on the planet Shuggazoom who discovers a giant robot with five cryogenically frozen cyborg monkeys inside. Accidentally awakening the robot and monkeys, Chiro inherits the spirit of the mighty Power Primate as the evil Skeleton King and his undead army arrives to conquer his world. The series would run for four seasons ending on a cliffhanger as the combined forces of good and evil converge for a final, fateful battle. No one has publicly divulged why SRMTHFG wasn’t picked up for what was suppose to be its final season but it was likely an administrative decision. Jetix was dropped from ABC Family around the same time the series ended and several series from that line-up ended around that time and ran in reruns on Toon Disney. Nieli would go on to work on Transformers: Animated (which also employed Answer Studio) and gained much acclaim for developing Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes for Disney and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for Nickelodeon. In 2009, Jetix and Toon Disney would merge to become Disney XD.

The same year Toon Disney became Disney XD, Disney had acquired Marvel Comics and its associated subsidiaries. The result was essentially a culling of Marvel’s various animated series. Shows like Iron Man: Armored Adventures and The Super Hero Squad Show received the ax for airing on non-Disney networks (Wolverine and the X-Men was canceled for different reasons). One series, Spectacular Spider-Man, transitioned to Disney XD only to get canceled because it was produced by Sony (Disney wanting to produce in house). One of, if not the, best animated versions of Spider-Man, Spectacular was spearheaded by Greg Weisman (Gargoyles) and Victor Cook (Hellboy Animated: Blood and Iron) with character designs by Sean “Cheeks” Galloway. Focusing on the Stan Lee and Steve Ditko Spider-Man, the series also borrowed from the Spider-Man film franchise and Ultimate Spider-Man with a strong focus on its characters. Chronicling the developing romance between Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy, the series also prominently featured friends Harry Osborn and Eddie Brock and competing love interests for Parker in Mary Jane Watson, Liz Allan, and the Black Cat. Tying many of the series villains to Oscorp and the Big Man/Tombstone, notable villains like Vulture, Electro, Lizard, Shocker, Sandman, Rhino, Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, Chameleon, Sinister Six, Venom, Mysterio, and Kraven made appearances in its short two seasons (with Carnage, Hobgoblin, Hydro-Man, and Scorpion planned for season three). Both Weisman and Cook were quickly snapped up by Warner Bros. Animation following the cancellation of Spectacular, the former to one of the best series based on DC Comics in Young Justice and the latter to arguably one of, if not the, best version of Scooby-Doo in Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated.

While Marvel transitioned with Disney’s acquisition, one casualty would be arguably the best Avengers animated series ever produced. Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes was an animated series on Disney XD developed by Ciro Nieli (mentioned earlier) and Joshua Fine and Christopher Yost (Wolverine and the X-Men, Iron Man: Armored Adventures). Starring Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Giant-Man, Wasp, Hawkeye, Black Panther, Ms. Marvel, and the Vision as part of the team, the series featured a grand scheme by the Norse god Loki (who facilitated the formation of the anti-Avengers in the Masters of Evil) and the invasion of Earth by the Skrull and Kree. The story artfully intertwined tales from the earlier source material with elements from the films and more recent events in Marvel comics. In its brief two seasons, the cast and scope of the series was massive (comparable to Young Justice and Justice League Unlimited, both noted for its use of large casts). Dozens of characters, including Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, Wolverine, Winter Soldier, and the Guardians of the Galaxy, made it into the show maintaining many of the storylines in the series to be so big that it seemed to necessitate the entire Marvel universe to deal with it. The series’ final episode saw Earth’s heroes tackle Galactus and four of his cosmically empowered heralds. Avengers: EMH would be canceled under the belief children could not follow an ongoing narrative, that largely self-contained episodes was the degree of investment their young minds prefer. The series would be replaced by Avengers Assemble which features a consistent line-up of Avengers based on the team’s live action film with the addition of the Falcon (who starred in the latest Captain America film).

In Spring 2012, Disney XD would introduce a new series by Chris Prynoski (Metalocalypse) to its line-up. The unofficial third entry in a trilogy started with MTV’s Downtown and Cartoon Network’s Megas XLR, Motorcity was a post-apocalyptic tale set in Detroit. The city was split in two, the ruins of the old Detroit where the poor and underprivileged live and Detroit Deluxe, an elevated metropolis above Detroit sold as the perfect society but actually a facade of a mad dictator named Abraham Kane. Mike Chilton, an elite soldier under Kane, learns the truth about his idol and defects from Detroit Deluxe to become the rebel leader of a group of freedom fighters known as the Burners. Armed with high-tech motor vehicles, the Burners began to unify the various racer gangs in the ruins of Detroit while foiling Kane’s various plans (such as wiping out the remaining populace of old Detroit). Motorcity would be canceled after only one season after gross mishandling by Disney XD. The show was frequently moved around on the schedule, placed on hiatuses for no given reason, had many episodes leaked online before being aired, episodes were shown out of order, and received no advertising when the show was moved from its timeslot. Towards the end of the first season, episodes did not even premier during the day but late into the evening hours. A month after Motorcity debuted, another series with almost the same mishandling emerged.

Following the success of Tron: Legacy at box office, an animated series based within the franchise emerged titled Tron: Uprising. Set between the first and second films, Uprising features Tron training a protege following near fatal injuries from his battle with Clu. Beck, a mechanic of the Grid, rises as Tron’s student and is referred by the people as “Tron” and “the Renegade.” The series maybe most noted for its impressive cast of voice talent with Elijah Wood, Lance Henriksen, and Mandy Moore as the show’s stars with reoccurring actors like Aaron Paul, Marcia Gay Harden, and Lance Reddick as Olivia Wilde reprised her role of Quorra from the film. As with Motorcity, Uprising was placed on hiatus for reasons unknown and when it returned, it was aired in the overnight hours without any advertising of its return or time change. Fans have speculated the show’s downfall was drawing in an older audience as Disney executives push to bring in younger viewers. As with Motorcity, Uprising lasted only one season.

In wake of the demise of Spectacular Spider-Man and Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, Disney XD would premier Ultimate Spider-Man and Avengers Assemble to replace them as part of a new programming block called Marvel Universe (Avengers: EMH‘s final season a place holder before being replaced). Also featuring shorts using clips from older Marvel animated series called Marvel Mash-Up, it’s likely the move was to compete with Cartoon Network’s success with its DC Nation block which featured Young Justice (which was instrumental in helping reverse the downturn of the network’s ratings when it premiered), Green Lantern: The Animated Series, and original animated shorts. Disney would expand their block with another Marvel series in Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. In recent years, Hulk’s supporting cast of gamma-irradiated friends increased beyond She-Hulk and Doc Samson as longtime foe “Thunderbolt” Ross became the Red Hulk, his daughter (and Bruce Banner’s longtime love interest) Betty the Red She-Hulk, Hulk’s sidekick Rick Jones the Abomination-esque A-Bomb, his wife Marlo the Harpy (a former identity of Betty), and Hulk’s children Skaar and Lyra emerged. Some of these characters were selected to form a Hulk-centered series developed to appeal to children as the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. (playing on the growing prominence of S.H.I.E.L.D. in the media). However, rumor has it the series was canceled before it even premiered. In much the same boat as Sym-Bionic Titan, the series wasn’t able to garner a toyline (though, a Brazilian distributor has produced images of what maybe an upcoming toyline a few months ago so hope may exist for a second season). If true, this fact combined with other recent missteps listed above seem to put Disney XD on track with Cartoon Network in mismanagement of its properties.

]]>http://comicartcommunity.com/2014/05/descent-action-toons-disney-xd/feed/0Al Feldstein 1925-2014http://comicartcommunity.com/2014/05/al-feldstein-1925-2014/
http://comicartcommunity.com/2014/05/al-feldstein-1925-2014/#commentsThu, 01 May 2014 04:38:17 +0000http://comicartcommunity.com/?p=3377Al Feldstein: 1925–2014 by Jerry Whitworth On April 29, 2014, the United States lost a pop culture icon. Al Feldstein passed away in his home in Livingston, Montana and while his may not be a household name, his contributions to our culture are significant. Discovering a talent in art at a young age, Feldstein […]

On April 29, 2014, the United States lost a pop culture icon. Al Feldstein passed away in his home in Livingston, Montana and while his may not be a household name, his contributions to our culture are significant. Discovering a talent in art at a young age, Feldstein worked as a teenager for Will Eisner and Jerry Iger as part of their Art Syndication Company which provided comics for various publishers including Editors Press Service, Fox Comics, and Quality Comics. Some of Feldstein’s earliest published art would be backgrounds for Sheena, Queen of the Jungle. When he was old enough, however, the artist would enlist as a soldier in the Air Force in order to join in World War II. Similarly with Stan Lee and Will Eisner, Feldstein’s talent as an artist brought him to Special Services where he produced comic strips and helped paint and decorate planes. He returned from the war as a freelancer working mostly for Fox. When that publisher seemed to be on the way out, Feldstein approached Bill Gaines for work at EC Comics.

At the time, EC Comics was in a transitional period as its founder Max “M.C.” Gaines died tragically in a boating accident. Gaines’ son William (better known as Bill), a military veteran going to school to be a Chemistry teacher, would inherit his father’s company Educational Comics which specialized in adapting Bible stories into comic books. Bill revised the publisher into Entertaining Comics, producing work in various genres like horror, crime fiction, science fiction, and so on. Instrumental in this effort was Al Feldstein and Harvey Kurtzman who came on as editors, the former taking on the lion’s share of the work editing and writing for seven of these titles. The result was dynamite. The company nurtured new writing talent (including Harlan Ellison’s first published work) unshackled by the restraints of other publishers and the artists were encouraged to develop their own distinctive styles. This environment offered the opportunity for the editors to take assignments and hand them out to those they felt best complimented the concept. Fans ate the books up, with EC Comics blowing virtually every other publisher out of the water. Although, it wouldn’t be long before people in power found the books to be dangerous to young people. Simply put, EC tackled the persisting problems within the country’s society no other medium at the time dared mention, be it drugs, racism, rape, domestic abuse, police brutality, and on and on. What did in the company, however, was the graphic nature of its art and its portrayal of gore and eroticism. Psychiatrist Fredric Wertham would publish a book connecting comic books to juvenile delinquency which led to a public and political outcry against comics (including book burnings). EC Comics was all but dismantled in the aftermath.

Following the backlash against the comic book industry, new self-regulated guidelines were put in place to prevent the collapse of the companies that survived. EC Comics tried to abide by the new guidelines but soon learned those in power exploited the system towards their own ends. The final straw was a comic EC produced presenting an allegory on racism featuring an African-American in the story’s reveal that the Comics Code Authority wanted to suppress. The story, “Judgment Day” by Al Feldstein, helped motivate the publisher to produce magazines instead (which were exempt from the CCA). Mad, a humor comic largely produced by Harvey Kurtzman, was chosen to be turned into a magazine. This decision was both motivated by the CCA and Kurtzman’s desire to move toward magazine work. As EC changed towards this direction, Feldstein was released but after a year, Kurtzman left Mad and Feldstein returned to become the magazine’s editor. Since Kurtzman provided the overwhelming majority of work on Mad, his departure left a virtually clean slate for Feldstein who brought on Don Martin and Frank Jacobs to produce the title. Feldstein led Mad to become the most popular humor magazine on the planet. At its zenith, the magazine circulated millions of copies per issue. Its been said Mad helped shape the youth of our nation toward viewing the government (and the establishment) critically, be it questioning wars, calling out political corruption, and to realize big media was controlling the perceptions of its audience. Through the use of humor and parodying pop culture, Mad was an entertaining product that also made you think (something seemingly becoming rarer every day). Feldstein guided the ship for Mad for nearly three decades before retiring in 1984.

Having worked for the legendary Will Eisner and been a guiding force for two of the biggest publication ventures in American history, Al Feldstein took up oil painting and moved to the West. Settling down in Montana with his wife Michelle, the couple ran a guest house at a horse and llama ranch just north of Yellowstone National Park. Feldstein spent his final decades doing what he loved: painting scenes of nature, animals, Western lore (of cowboys and native Americans), and fantasy. His art was featured in dozens of galleries and is actively sought by collectors. In 2003, he was inducted into the Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame and in 2011 he earned the Bram Stoker Lifetime Achievement Award by the Horror Writers Association. As can be inferred, you can’t properly quantify the contributions Feldstein and his work at EC Comics provided to our culture. From kicking the hornet’s nest of what was considered acceptable content for the youth of America to expanding the minds and perceptions of the public, Feldstein’s work was some of the earliest shots fired in the war on ignorance (purposeful of otherwise) in our society. Feldstein, an admitted liberal Democrat, took both pleasure and joy in his contributions towards waking the public up to what was going on around them while taking no sides politically (lampooning both sides of the aisle equally). As a creative force and a scholar in the study of man, Al Feldstein will be missed and his work is a gift that the world can enjoy for the rest of eternity.

So begins the story of Liesel Van Helsing, Vampire Hunter. Hardly minor in talent or skill she is an inventor as much as she is a vampire hunter. Dressed in the ever fashionable steampunk style, her weapons are as much a fashion statement as her attire. Who could blame her? Both her outfit and her weapons are awesome.

The way the comic is written and played out is different from what I am used to when it comes to Zenescope. I certainly am not complaining, I like the variation but it was quite unexpected. Leave it to Zenescope to have another additional element of surprise when it comes to themes and story telling. From the table of invention, to steam punk vampire slaying, to a date night with Hades, the story seems as if pages were torn from different books and seamlessly interwoven.

Cupcakes and the God of the Underworld with the Daughter of Helsing… hmm… yes I do believe I can deal with that.

Gamboa’s colors for every page are well chosen. The colors vary per page depending on the scene. The reflections of the past are given antique and shadowy hues, while Liesel herself on every page is always brightly colored. This does help assist to assure the reader always has their attention focused on the predominant character of Liesel. Even if she is in a shirt and underwear, her vampire slaying attire, or her quite Victorian outfit for date night you just cannot take your eyes off of her. She is one that the reader will be unable to take their eyes off of. I have a feeling I am going to like Liesel Van Helsing. She is one fascinating woman in every aspect and way.

While Helsing #1 plays out in parts you are more likely to find in a chick flick, the end leaves me eagerly waiting for Helsing #2. When a book suddenly ends leaving you with more questions then answers you want to know more. Much as Liesel, my curiousity has been piqued and I look forward to her continued travels and investigation deep within the center of Italy. By one little bookmark the reader knows that some of the familiar faces of the Van Helsing legacy are bound to show up and emerge from the shadows of legend themselves.